This is my favourite asparagus recipe. I make it every spring. It is from Jamie Oliver's "Jamie at Home" cookbook.
Crispy and Delicious Potato and Asparagus Tart
Ingredients 1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks Sea salt 1 pound asparagus spears, woody ends removed 8 ounces filo pastry 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 cup freshly grated Lancashire cheese 1/2 cup freshly grated Cheddar (white) 3 large organic or free-range eggs 1 (8-ounce) container heavy cream 1/4 whole fresh nutmeg Freshly ground black pepper Directions Put your potatoes into a pan of salted boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile blanch your asparagus in a separate pan of salted boiling water for 4 minutes, and drain in a colander.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Get an ovenproof dish - I've used many different shapes and sizes. Layer the sheets of filo pastry in the dish, brushing them with melted butter as you go and letting about 1-inch hang over the edge. You want to get the pastry about 5 layers thick. Put a clean, damp kitchen towel over the top and put aside.
When the potatoes are done, mash them with the cheeses. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and cream and stir into your cheesy mashed potato. Grate in the nutmeg, season well with pepper and mix together. Spread the mashed potato over the filo pastry, then bring up the sides of the filo and scrunch them together to form a rim. Take your blanched asparagus and line them up across the filling, making sure you cover it all. Brush all over with the remaining melted butter and pop into the preheated oven for around 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve just as you would a quiche for a quick lunch or supper, with a salad.
I often skip the Lancashire cheese because I never have it on hand so I use 1 cup of nice old white cheddar and it turns out perfect.
This week, our meat shareholders are receiving ground mutton in the shares, and here's a recipe!
Lamb/Mutton Kebabs
Ingredients:
-1 lb ground lamb or mutton
-1 small grated onion
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp cumin powder
-1 tsp coriander powder
-1/4 tsp garam masala powder (optional)
-chili powder to taste
-1 egg
-1 tsp minced garlic
-1/4 tsp minced ginger
-2 slices of bread soaked in milk or water
Directions:
After soaking the bread, squeeze out any excess liquid. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well with your hands. Now you can shape the mixture into golf ball shapes or small footballs (like a kebab). Really you can shape them into whatever you want :) Preheat your oven to 375 deg. Place the kebabs on a rack over a pan and cook for 10-15 mins then flip the kebabs. This way they'll be crispy all the way around. Bake until the internal temp is 160 deg (cook time will depend on your oven and the shape you make the mixture into). At home we serve these with raita, flat bread and a salad!
Variation: You could also BBQ these kebabs. I find shaping them over a flat skewer (as opposed to a thin rounded one) is helpful so that they don't fall off.
Quick Raita
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup plain yogurt
-1 tbsp lemon juice
-pinch of salt
-1/3 of a cucumber
-1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Directions:
Take your cucumber and cut it into rounds, then cut the rounds into quarters (if you want you can peel it beforehand...I'm a little lazy, I don't :). Mix all the ingredients and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
With our fruit share we've been getting sooo many apples, love it! just had to find a way to use them all before they got bad. Well my daughter went to a "Betty Crocker" Camp with her girl guides a few months ago and brought home this recipe for Apple Butter Jelly
It's SO good.
Ingredients:
Roughly 2 1/4 lbs of apples
1 Lemon
7 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 tsp ground allspice berry
1tsp cinnamon
1 pouch Liquid pectin
This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled depending on how many jars you have
1: Remove blossom and stem ends from about 2 and 1/4 lbs of apples. And cut into quarters, do not peel or core. This should make about 10 cups of fruit before cooking
add 1 1/2 cups of water and juice of 1 medium sized lemon. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes, then put through a coarse sieve. (this will leave the peels behind and the coarser pulp/core/seeds..)
Measure 5 cups of fruit pulp into a very large saucepan
add sugar and spices to pulp in saucepan and mix well
Place over high heat, bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat
IMMEDIATELY stir in pectin. Skim off foam with metal spoon.
Pour quickly into warm, sterilized jars filling up to 1/4 inch from rim
Seal while hot with sterilized 2 piece lids with new centers.
As I said, this recipe can easily double, or triple depending on how many apples you have. It's REALLY good.
Lisa was our (Jon and I) apprentice on another farm last year. She has an interest & talent in medicinal herbs, so Nettle is right up her alley. Here's a recipe she shared, just in time for the nettles coming in your shares this week! Here it is, thanks Lisa!
RECIPE
stinging nettle paté
you will need; giant bowl of fresh stinging nettles. 1 cup walnuts/almonds/sunflower seeds/whatever strikes yer fancy, preferably soaked overnight. 1 small onion/hand full of chopped green onion/handful of garden chives. 3-infinity cloves of garlic. 1 tsp. coriander. 1 tsp paprika. 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp light miso and 1 tbsp red wine/balsamic vinegar.s & p.
steam the nettles until bright green (5 min or so), strain and squeeze water out of em. (you can drink this, trust me, its delicious.) if yer using nuts, you might want to chop them up or pulse them in a food processor beforehand, reserve for later use. . . then combine in food processor the following: nettles, onion, garlic, spices, lemon juice, miso, vinegar. blend until you have one good lookin green paste. take a small (or whatever it looks like all yer good will fit perfectly inside) bowl, like the bottom and sides with yer crushed nuts/seeds, then spoon yer nettle mix (should be thick) in, squish down. using a plate, flip over yer bowl, and voila! nettle paté. . . enjoy with somethin crunchy to dip in it.
don't even get me started on how good for you nettles are. .. vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, rich in natural antihistamines, high in iron (good for anemic folks), a wonderful spring tonix for detoxifying yer sluggish cranky winter liver. . .okay, i have to stop or i won't be able to. ...
apparently soldiers in world war I used to sting themselves with nettles to bring back feeling into their frozen hands and toes. it has been used topically for arthritis as well. ..i've actually started to enjoy being stung by it .guess im just a nettle sadist. .. ..okay im stopping.. . GO EAT SOME NETTLES!
"I discovered sunchokes through TapRoot and they are a treat that I look forward to every year"
Thanks Sylvia!
Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes (or Sunchokes)
Rated:
Submitted By: qwertycook
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 35 Minutes
Ready In: 45 Minutes
Servings: 4
"Jerusalem artichokes, also known as sunchokes, can be roasted with a coating of olive oil for a tasty snack. This is a super-easy way to cook these vegetables if you've never tried them before and by far my favorite. Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes, are starchy tubers like potatoes and turnips. When roasted, the skin becomes flaky and the flesh becomes tender, but the taste of a sunchoke is slightly nutty and sweet. Cooked sunchokes are best when eaten within 2 days. When raw, they store well in your fridge's vegetable bin, wrapped loosely in a paper towel. Enjoy!"
Ingredients:
1 pound Jerusalem artichokes
(sunchokes)
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons dried thyme
1 tablespoon minced garlic
sea salt to taste
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.
Scrub Jerusalem artichoke tubers and cut out eyes. Cut tubers into 1-inch pieces.
3.
Mix olive oil, thyme, garlic, and sea salt together in a large bowl; add Jerusalem artichoke pieces and toss to coat. Arrange coated pieces in one evenly-spaced layer on a baking sheet.
4.
Roast in the preheated oven until Jerusalem artichokes are tender, 35 to 45 minutes.
