I am a huge fan of the new Splendid Table host, Francis Lam. He brings a fresh perspective to a podcast/radio show that I’ve always loved. Today, I listened while I batch-cooked two casseroles and some roasted delicata squash for our meals this week, and I was particularly touched by this week’s episode, which as about food as care, for both ourselves and our communities. It was inspiring and entertaining, and I suggest checking it out yourself: https://www.splendidtable.org/episode/667
This episode felt appropriate and timely. I’ve always loved sharing food, and that is one of the things that initially drew me to farming. Of course one of the ironies of farming is that you are often too tired at the height of the season to spend much time cooking. Autumn is the time of the year when I start to really cook feasts for folks I love.
Despite having cooked up our week’s food last Sunday (one of my favorite tricks—spend three hours cooking on Sunday and just reheat delicious leftovers all week instead of spending time cooking each night!) I still found myself cooking delicious, hearty meals out of a shear love for the guests we were hosting. One night it was a turnip and potato mash with caramelized onions, sweet peppers, and Italian sausage and a salad. Another night it was sautéed delicata with garlic fried greens and sage butter over penne. I love preparing food for others and providing them with the comfort and luxury of having a meal served to them maybe even more than I love being served a meal, and that’s saying a lot!
Below, here are the recipes that were more or less the inspiration (or that most closely resemble something that I made up!) for our meals this week:
1) White bean, sweet Italian turkey sausage, onion, and tons of broccoli greens over a polenta base, topped with 2017’s tomato/eggplant/pepper sauce with a sprinkle of mozzarella and baked. Basically the casserole version of this plus lots of sautéed greens and onions: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/italian-sausage-bean-stew-with-polenta
2) I made the following Beet Greens and Rice Gratin recipe but subbed quite a few things, as I tend to do. I finely chopped last week’s braising greens and “Rosie” bok choy and used those instead of the beet greens, and I used some lovely farm cheddar that was given to me by a CSA sharer in place of Gruyere. I added peas and used brown rice to make sure it was extra nutritious and to make the flavor sweeter, and used a fistful of chopped herbs from my garden—parsley, Thai basil, sage, and chives. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014672-beet-greens-and-rice-gratin
3) And finally, this pizza is something like what we plan to eat for dinner tonight, along with a huge salad with my favorite homemade lemon garlic vinaigrette. http://saltandwind.com/recipes/43-blue-cheese-shallot-and-delicata-squash-pizza-recipe
Be well and eat well, dear sharers!
Mel