Paisley Farm CSA blog

It’s Week Three!

An exciting box this week is coming to you…complete with the maple syrup talked about last week. The box contains:

Maple Syrup

Apples… organic & local

Mesclun mix greens from the Green House

Red Beets

Eggs

Potatoes…chippowa or russet

Onions

Carrots

Red or Black beans 

and more local delicious Cheese!

Of course, menu ideas are still bouncing along with hashes and poached eggs. Stuffed onions and beet soups keep you warm, and who says salads disappear in the winter? The greens are a perfect way to keep raw foods in your diet during this season. The carrots I have been trimming of the woody core (compost it!) and turning into a sesame and carrot slaw of sorts or stuffing grated carrots into sandwiches. 

Getting the Local Harvest newsletter, this past week I noticed a great winter recipe from a close neighbor of ours here in upstate New York. Though being on the other side of the Hudson, New Paltz is a fun little town, with plenty of local eaters as well. 

Thank you Local Harvest Newsletter ! 

Cheese and Potato Tart

This tart recipe was shared with us by Agnes Devereux of The Village TeaRoom Restaurant and Bake Shop in New Paltz, NY.

It’s delicious winter food — dense with potatoes and heavy with cream and cheese. The original recipe calls for Toussaint cheese, a raw milk cheese The TeaRoom gets from Sproutcreek Farm in Poughkeepsie, NY. Cheddar or another semi-soft cheese may be substituted. Serve with an escarole salad or other bitter greens.

For the crust:
One recipe of your favorite pie, tart, or pate brisée crust for a 8″ spring form pan

Serves 4

For the filling:

• 1 ¼ lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 ¼ c. whole milk (no ultra pasteurized)
• 1 c. heavy cream (no ultra pasteurized))
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 T. butter
• 1 medium onion, diced into ½” pieces
• 1 egg
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 8 oz. Toussaint cheese, crust removed and grated or cut into ¼” thick slices, OR 8 oz. grated cheddar or cheese of your choice

Line the spring form pan with refrigerated crust and chill for 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees until cooked but not browned, 15 – 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350.

Combine potatoes with 1 c. of the milk, cream, 1 sprig thyme and 1 garlic clove. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Discard thyme and garlic and let potatoes cool in the liquid.

Warm the butter in a pan over medium to low heat and add the onions, remaining thyme, garlic and salt and pepper until the onions are translucent and tender, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, discard thyme and garlic and set aside to cool.

Drain the potatoes, straining the milk and cream into a liquid measuring cup. If necessary, add extra milk to equal 1 ¼ c. liquid. In a bowl whisk together the egg and a pinch of nutmeg and then add the milk and cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper and whisk to combine.

Scatter ½ the onions, half the potatoes and ½ the cheese in the baked tart shell. Then add make a second layer with the remaining onions and potatoes. Top with the remaining cheese. Pour the milk/egg mixture over the filling and cover with foil. Make sure foil is tented and not touching the surface of the tart.

Bake for about 45 minutes, remove foil and bake a further 15 minutes. Let cool for 30 -60 minutes before serving.

Potatoes are a cold weather staple with plenty of creamy and hearty appeal, happy to be baked, boiled, mashed, smashed or turned into a mess of cubes as morning has browns. Content to be eaten all my themselves, it’s easy to forget that potatoes can be used for far more. Jumping into the baking world, I decided to take my potatoes to the oven in classic Potato Rolls. Home made bread still sounds like a head ache to some, but this recipe makes plenty to eat now, freeze or give away and is quite forgiving. These make great little sandwiches or serve with a big roast or stew. Soft, sweet and somewhat rich, these rolls are basic and take well to additions like Caramelized Onions (stir into dough, cooled, in the beginning mixing of all ingredients.) Also, see notes at bottom for using left over mashed potatoes. 

Being a fat enriched sweeter and soft dough, this can also be rolled out into a large rectangle after the first rise….brushed with butter, sprinkled with cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans… then rolled up (starting with the long side facing you) jelly roll style, sliced into rounds and made into Pecan Cinnamon Buns! Smear with cream cheese frosting or a quick powdered sugar, milk and splash of bourbon icing to drizzle on top. 

Potato Rolls 

makes 48 rolls

2-3 potatoes, skinned and cubed

water to cover (2 cups) 

2 packets yeast (1/2 ounce total) 

sprinkle sugar 

1/2 cup melted butter 

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs 

2 teaspoons salt 

6-7 cups of flour total 

egg mixed with water or cream or another yolk for egg wash

1<> Boil potatoes in water for 15-20 minutes until tender, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Mash potatoes until smooth, and cool mash to 110 to 115 degrees, while you cool the potato water to the same temp, again 110 to 115 degrees. **This is just to not burn and kill your yeast.) 

2<> Dissolve the yeast with the cooking water and the sprinkle of sugar in a large bowl. Let stand a few minutes while you gather rest of ingredients. 

3<> Add in the reserved potato mash, butter, honey, eggs, salt and 3 cups of flour. Beat until smooth and then stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft yet cohesive dough. Turn onto a lightly floured counter or bread board and knead until soft and smooth, about 8 to 20 minutes depending on your kneading skills… A dough hook will also do this for you if you have a stand mixer. 

4<> Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a draft free spot until doubles in size…about 1 hour. **Dough can also be placed in fridge and allowed to “slow rise” over night at this stage**

5<> Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured counter again. Shape into 48 equal sized rolls OR proceed with Cinnamon Bun Variation above. Place into greased round pans or on a greased baking sheet. I let the sides all touch to get that pull apart soft yeast roll side. Cover again and let rise another 30 minutes to an hour until double in size. 

6<> Preheat oven to 400^…. Uncover rolls and brush with egg wash. Bake 20-30 minutes until puffy and cooked through. Cool on racks. 

**Left over mashed potatoes can be used here but since they already come with butter and such, decrease the melted butter in the recipe or remove it completely depending on how rich you made you mashed potatoes. Cheese doesn’t not hurt either, and will work. **

**Freeze left over mashed potatoes for another batch of rolls or to break off chunks of the frozen mash for stirring into soups that need a little more body or thickening.**

Vegetable Super-Stock
This recipe is for a slow cooker, and is from “From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker,” by Robin Robertson. I’m sure it can be easily adapted for stove-top, probably by adding a little more water and then following whatever instructions are given for hours on the burner. Anyway, this is really great, and definitely uses a lot of the stuff you may still have hanging around. As with any stock, small modifications are probably no problem, so feel free to use a red onion rather than a yellow one, and etc.

1 lrg yellow onion, thickly sliced
2 lrg carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 lrg all-purpose potato, left unpeeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 lrg parsnip, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 celery rib, cut into one inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, left unpeeled and crushed
1 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper
half cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley leaves
4 dried shitake or porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1 c. hot water until softened, drained. Strain liquid of grit, and reserve
2 bay leaves
half teaspoon black peppercorns
1 T. tamari or other soy sauce
7 cups water

1. Preheat the oven to 450. Place the onion, carrots, potato, parsnip, celery, and garlic in a lightly oiled baking pan. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables unitl slightly browned, turning once, about 30 mins total.
2. Transfer the roasted vegetables into a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Add the parsley, the mushrooms and their soaking water, bay leaves, peppercorns, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, and the water. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, until the vegetables are soft and the stock is a rich golden color.
3. Let the stock cool slightly, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl or pot, pressing against the solids with the back of a spoon to release the liquid. Use at once or let cool completely, then portion and store in the refrigerator in tightly covered containers. Properly stored, the stock will keep in the refrigerator for 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Submitted by Ben Masur. Thanks Ben!