We once again celebrated the season with our annual Clay Coyote Christmas party. We always include a “few of our favorite things” each year…  Local ingredients, a selection of Paula Wolfert recipes, dishes made in Clay Coyote pottery, and ice cream. This year Tom and Betsy made roasted pork from Dale Rusch’s farm here in Hutchinson. Virginia made an artichoke dip in a Clay Coyote casserole dish. Michele created this salad recipe from Paula’s new book, The Food of Morocco.  Moroccans take on salad has altered my perception on how to begin a meal. Instead of focusing on what dressing will cover the vegetables, they seem to primarily consider freshness and vibrancy.

Orange, Romaine, and Walnut Salad

1 head tender romaine lettuce
3 navel or temple oranges
Dressing:
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons orange flower water
2 Tablespoons reserved orange juice
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Wash the romaine lettuce and separate into leaves, discarding the tough outer ones. Drain, wrap in paper towels, and refrigerate until needed.

2. Peel and section the oranges. Reserve 2 Tablespoons for dressing. Cover and keep chilled.

3. To make the dressing: Mix lemon juice, sugar, salt, cinnamon, orange flower water, and OJ in a bowl, blending well. Taste: the dressing should be sweet. Add more sugar if necessary.

4. Just before serving, shred the lettuce and arrange in a glass serving dish. Pour the dressing over and toss. Arrange overlapping sections of oranges around the edges, then sprinkle the salad with chopped walnuts and dust with cinnamon.

It was enjoyed by all at our table…

We have all been anticipating the arrival of Paula’s new book, The Food of Morocco. When it arrived, I thumbed through the 500+ pages over a course of a few days. The photographs are stunning and the recipes, oh the recipes! I chose the Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup as my first creation. She described it as a soup “to keep both body and soul warm.”  It was the most incredible squash soup I have ever tasted in my entire life. I found myself licking the spatula like it was cake batter. I was able to make use of my beautiful butternut squash from Loon organics.

1 yellow onion coarsely chopped
Coarse salt
1 1/2 T EVOO
2 pounds butternut, kabocha, or kalabaza squash, halved, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2″ chunks (about 6 cups)
2 T tomato paste
1 t La Kama
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 pound crumbled or shredded goat cheese
1 t harissa (I used sriracha)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Toss the onion with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and the oil in your cazuela, cover and steam over medium-low heat until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the squash, cover with a sheet of parchment paper and a lid, and steam for 20 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, spices and 4 cups hot water and bring to a boil, then cook at a simmer until the squash is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Transfer soup in batches to a blender, and puree until smooth; add the cream, 3/4 of the cheese, and the harissa to the last batch of soup and puree until velvety.

Return soup to cazuela and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into warm bowls and top each portion with a light sprinkling of remaining cheese. (serves 4)

Immediately after taking my first bite, I wished I had doubled the batch! Paula suggests thinning it with hot water and adjusting seasoning, if it gets too thick. I thought it reheated perfectly. I served it with homemade bread, and I think I’ll make it again next week with kobacha. We are featuring this amazing cookbook right now. If you purchase the book, we include a $10 off coupon for any piece in the gallery! It is not only an amazing cookbook, but it also makes for a lovely coffee table book. The images and stories have bumped Morocco to the top 5 on my travel bucket list. (sorry Japan) Go to Facebook, and join the Moroccan cooking group for more recipes and information.

It always amazes me what a difference 1 week in Minnesota can make! Last week,  I was overheating in my light 3/4 sleeve shirt and jeans. While this week, my 3 layers, scarf, and head band were not enough to keep me warm. We continued to plant the garlic, which brings the entire garlic experience full circle. In June we started the battle with the weeds. I felt rewarded with the introduction of a garlic scape. July brought a heat index of 130. On a cloudless Tuesday, we yanked the garlic out of the insanely hot field, and loaded them onto the tractor to be heaved into the barn loft for curing. Weeks later, we sat in the sun talking and “breaking” the heads for planting. My last day at Loon was spent riding behind the tractor, pushing the last of the cloves into the dirt. I’ll remember this forever as the summer of garlic. I wanted to share a recipe I tried last week. Part of my decision to be a work share this summer was for the opportunity to be exposed to new vegetables. Here is the recipe for my new favorite way to make brussel sprouts. I adapted a recipe I found in Loon’s newsletter. I made this dish in my Flameware Skillet. It was delicious, and the leftovers kept for over a week.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

½ stem of Brussels sprouts
5 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon butter Salt and pepper, to taste
Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash and dry the Brussels sprouts. Trim off the ends of the sprouts, remove the outer leaves, and then cut them in half. Set aside. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and place the pieces on a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil and butter to the skillet. After the butter has melted, add the sprouts and cook for 3 minutes, just until the sprouts have started to brown. Add the bacon back to the skillet and toss gently.
Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Spread the sprouts and bacon out onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cheese, and roast for 15 minutes, or until the sprouts are fork-tender. Remove from the oven and serve in you favorite Clay Coyote piece. I served the dish in our new pasta bowl shown below in sage.

“I appreciate “nice” days so much more, and never take them for granted.” Is this a lie I tell myself to get through the not-so-nice extreme Minnesota days? We broke records in July for the highest heat index ever! 130 degrees recorded on July 19th, along with the highest ever recorded dew point. Now 2 weeks later… 78 degrees, a cool breeze, and low humidity. I appreciated every second of this weather change yesterday on the farm. Fluffy clouds obscured the sun as we worked out in the field. The sun would emerge occasionally, and with the constant, cool, breeze it was a garden utopia. We spent the afternoon harvesting onions. Unlike their difficult garlic cousins, onions are much easier to unearth. Into the totes, and onto the wagon they went to be laid out and cured in the hot house. As I rode with the onions on the wagon, I consciously appreciated every cool gust of wind. Maybe I am not lying to myself to get through rough weather. I think the extremities make beautiful days a little sweeter.

Looks like the wonderful weather is going to continue through the weekend. Why not enjoy it spending the day at the garlic festival? We are just about ready to go. The last few garlic jars are going to be fired today, and they will be packed up for the festival. We are also bringing a few pieces out of retirement for the festival. We will have onion jars and compost jars for sale. Once they are gone, back into retirement they go.

I made a rice pilaf that made use of a variety of fresh summer vegetables from my last box. I recommend using whatever fresh veggies you have. After harvesting onions, I was craving something I could use my walla walla onions in.

Summer Fresh Pilaf:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 Walla Walla onion peeled and chopped
1 Summer squash grated
2 carrots shredded
1 large firm zucchini grated
1 clove of garlic pressed
2 tsp cracked coriander
1 c brown rice (soak for an hour before using)
2 c veggie stock
Handful unsalted cashews
Pinch ground black pepper

After I grated my squash and zucchini, I drained it in my colander. In my Flameware Cazuela I heated the oil. Next added onion, carrot, squash, zucchini, and cooked until soft. Next added garlic and coriander cooked until garlic became fragrant. Next I drained and rinsed the rice and added it to my cazuela. After I stirred for about 5 minutes, I added the stock and brought it all to a boil. I then reduced the heat to low, covered and cooked for about 30 minutes. Once the rice was tender, I put my cazuela on a hot pad. I put it on the table, and just before serving added the cashews and pepper.

Freshly picked garlic from Loon Organics

8 More days until the Garlic Festival here in Hutch. It is all things garlic this month here at Clay Coyote. We will be featuring our tastiest garlic recipes prepared with our favorite Clay Coyote pieces. I will be creating my dishes from my weekly produce box from Loon Organics. I was inspired to create this dish after a recent discussion on different methods of preparing baba ghanoush. I thought, “Zucchini might be a tasty alternative to eggplant.” Mmm mmmmmm I was right!  I had previously roasted and then frozen multiple heads of garlic, so this recipe was prepared in less than 10 minutes.

Roasted Garlic Zucchini Dip
3 zucchini
1/2 head roasted garlic
1 Tablespoon tahini
Splash white wine vinegar
Squirt lemon juice
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Roast garlic in your Clay Coyote Garlic Roaster.  Peel zucchini, chop, and blend or process along with garlic and tahini. Add lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste. I have been snacking on this all week. First with carrots, then pita, crackers, and yesterday I scooped it up with summer squash. It will keep in your refrigerator for up to a week covered.

I have a trivia for you garlic and poetry lovers out there. Who said, “Eat no onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath.”?…