Sugarmomma’s Maple-Brined Turkey
1 1/2 gallons water
1 1/2 cups maple sugar
1 cup coarse salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 10-pound turkey (not self-basting type)
1. For brine, in a 10 quart kettle combine water, syrup, salt, and
brown sugar, stir to dissolve sugar and salt. Set aside.
2. Rinse turkey; remove any excess fat from cavity. Add turkey to
brine in kettle, Cover; marinate in the refrigerator for 12 to 24
hours.
3. Remove turkey from brine. Drain turkey; pat dry with paper towels.
Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.
Tuck ends of drumsticks under the band of skin across the tail. If
there is no band of skin, tie drumsticks securely to tail. Twist wing
tips under the back. brush with oil. If desired insert a meat
thermometer into the center of and inside thigh muscle. The
thermometer should not touch bone. Cover turkey loosely with foil.
4. Roast turkey in a 325 degree oven for 2 1/4 hours; cut band of skin
or string between drumsticks so thighs cook evenly; remove foil.
Continue roasting 30 minutes to 45 minutes more or until drumsticks
move easily in their sockets and turkey is no linger pink.
5. Remove turkey from oven. Cover and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes
before carving.
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Butternut Squash Casserole
(passed along by Stout Oak Farm, from the blog at eat me, delicious)
Serves 8 to 10 people
3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4″ pieces (about 6 cups)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the pan (you could easily reduce this by at least half)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, trimmed, peeled and chopped (about 3 cups)
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon thyme
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (toasted if you want)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or pecans, toasted
2 cups coarsely grated cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 bunch of spinach, washed (add to the same water as the squash in step 2 during the last minute of boiling)
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place 3 quarts water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the squash to the water, return to a boil, and cook for 6 minutes. The squash will turn a deeper orange. Drain it and set aside.
3. Melt the butter in the stockpot and add the oil. Add the onions and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent and limp, about 8 minutes, stirring to prevent browning. Add the warm squash and the milk, eggs, thyme, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, 1/8 cup pumpkin seeds and 1 1/3 cups cheese. Blend with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients are well combined.
4. Spread the mixture evenly in a 9×13″ baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining 1/8 cup pumpkin seeds and 2/3 cup cheese. Bake 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
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Roasted Garlic
Great on its own as a side dish, on bread, or as an ingredient in your other recipes
If you’ve never tried roasting garlic, here’s a simple recipe to get you started from Sofie Larsen at Applegard Farm in South Berwick:
Preheat oven to 400
Peel most of the skin off, leave the base of the head of garlic
Cut the top open so the cloves are peeking out
Put your heads of garlic in a pan
Pour olive oil (or better: Broth and olive oil) over them, about a teaspoon onto each head
Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until they are soft to the touch of a fork
Cool and eat!
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Corn and Tomato Salsa
The perfect taste of summer, try this with colorful heirloom tomatoes from the market
Fresh salsa is a great accompanyment to a summertime meal – especially paired with items hot off the grill. And it’s so easy!
Here is a recipe from Celeste Gingras at Forty Five Market Street Bakery and Cafe:
Ingredients:
2 cups corn
3 cups diced tomato
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced green pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 bunch chopped cilantro
1 small diced onion
1 diced hot pepper
add cumin to taste
add juice of 1 lime
Leave overnight then serve.
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Poor Man’s Crab Cakes
from Meadow’s Mirth
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 cups grated zucchini (or other summer squash)
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
Directions:
1. Combine ingredients
2. Shape into cakes
3. Saute or fry in small amount of oil until golden brown
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Pasta and Peas
from Sofie Larsen of Applegard Farm in Kittery
Serves 4 with leftovers!
Ingredients
2 pints snap peas
1 stick of butter
1 chopped onion
1 pound of pasta, suggest medium shells or penne
1.25 cup grated parmesan cheese
6 chopped basil leaves (or other herbs)
Directions
1. Chop and boil snap peas for 2 minutes
2. Keep 4 Tablespoons of the water, then drain the peas
3. Plunge them into cold water so they cool off
4. Melt butter in a large skillet
5. Add onion
6. Sautee until the onion is soft but doesn’t change color, then lower heat
7. Cook pasta
8. In the last 5 minutes of the pasta cooking, add your peas to the butter and onion
9. Drain the pasta, add parmesan cheese and stir
10. Add peas-butter-onion mixture, stir
11. If necessary for texture, add the reserved pea-water
12. Sprinkle with basil
13. Enjoy!
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Strawberry Rhubarb Delights
Thanks to Applecrest Farm Baker, Sharon Lindsay
Filling
4 c rhubarb (sliced)
4 c strawberries (whole)
2 tsp lemon juice
1.25 c sugar
5 tbl corn starch
1. Cook strawberries, rhubarb, lemon juice over medium heat until tender
2. Add sugar and corn starch, cook until boiling (stirring to remove lumps)
3. Boil and stir 1 minute or until thickened
4. Set aside
Cake
1 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 c flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
.5 tsp salt
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each egg
3. Beat in vanilla
4. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl
5. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture just until combined
Spread half of the batter into a greased 15’x10’x1’ baking pan
Spread fruit filling on top
Drop remaining batter by teaspoons over the top
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown
Cool completely on wire rack
Drizzle glaze over cool bars and cut
Glaze
4 c confectionary sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Milk (enough for desired consistency)
Mix with wire whisk until smooth
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Sugary Apple Crisp
Thanks to Gayle Sweeney, Hampton Beach
INGREDIENTS
1 lemon
3-4 apples (can be a combo. of different types!)
1/3 + cup maple syrup
splash of orange juice
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
approx. 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
- Make the crisp first by combining whole wheat flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon ’til crumbly.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8×8″ pan. (I use a glass pan.)
- Peel and cut apples and mix with juice of one lemon. Put in the pan and drizzle with some of the maple syrup, to which a few drops of OJ can also be added.
- Top with crisp and drizzle with the rest of the syrup/OJ mixture.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, watching carefully.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
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Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Yield: 4- 6 oz Servings
INGREDIENTS
1 Tablespoon Salad Oil
½ Cup Onions, minced
2 McIntosh or other Fresh Local Apples, peeled and diced small (1/2” squares)
2 Cups Butternut Squash, small dice
2 Cups Low Fat/Low Sodium Chicken Broth
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp White or Black Pepper
¼ tsp (each) Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Ginger (optional)
½ tsp (each) Ground Coriander and Cumin (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- In a 2 Quart Saucepan, add the salad oil and heat until hot.
- Add the onions and sauté for 2 minutes over low heat to soften.
- Add the apples and squash and cook over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer until squash and apples are soft, approximately 15 minutes.
- Drain the soup, reserving the broth. Puree the soup with some of the broth until smooth. Adjust consistency with reserved broth.
- Season soup with salt and pepper and an optional seasoning according to your taste.
Note: For a richer soup, add ½ Cup of Light Cream or half-and-half. Garnish with a dollop of low-fat sour cream and minced chives or other fresh herb.
Thanks to the Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology for this recipe!
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PARSNIP DARK SPICE CAKE
Parsnips just don’t get enough credit these days. But Sarah Orne Jewett, beloved 19th century writer from South Berwick, knew a good thing when she tasted it. Parsnip Cake was one of her favorite treats, and is still served at her birthday celebrations, even 101 years after her death. There was just such an occasion last month at her historic home.
This may not be Sarah’s recipe, but it’s a good one. It comes from a book called Down to Earth by Georgeanne Brennan (Chronicle Books).
“The parsnips, like carrots in carrot cake, add moisture, texture, and fluffiness. Although not necessary, freshly ground spices bring an intense aroma and exotic taste to the finished product. Sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar, spread with a buttercream frosting, or left plain, this is a cake for teatime, family desserts, or to nibble along with ice cream. This recipe was adapted from one that has been handed down in my husband’s family through several generations.”
Preheat an oven to 325° F. Using the 1 teaspoon margarine, grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
With a vegetable peeler or paring knife, peel the parsnip. On the fine holes of a handheld grater, grate the parsnip to measure 1/2 cup. Set aside. Reserve any leftover parsnip for another use.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside. Put the sugar, raisins, parsnip, 7 tablespoons margarine, salt, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and water in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil for just 1 or 2 minutes until the margarine has melted and the raisins are plumped. Remove from the heat and let stand until cooled to lukewarm. Pour the lukewarm parsnip-raisin mixture into the flour mixture and stir just enough to moisten the dry ingredients; do not overmix. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
Bake until the edges of the cake start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let coot in the dish on a rack or countertop for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Cut into 3-by-4-inch pieces to serve.
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WELSH HONEY CAKES
Also known as Teisennau Mel, Welsh Honey Cakes are often associated with full moon celebrations, likely because of their shape (and perhaps also due to their luminescent buttery goodness). Most of the main ingredients (butter, egg, honey) can be found locally at the farmers’ markets!
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
milk, to taste
1 egg
4 ounces honey
— Harrison’s Poultry Farm
— Hollister Family Farm
— Two Toad Farm
— Victory Bees
— White Gate Farm
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 425. First sieve together the flour, cinnamon and baking soda. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Then separate the egg yolk from the white, beating the yolk into the butter-sugar mixture. Add the honey to this gradually, and stir in the flour with just enough milk to keep it all held together lightly (it should be stir-able but thick).
Whisk the egg white into a stiff froth and fold into the above batter. Half-fill into well-greased muffin tins, allowing the batter to mound in the middle. Bake for about 20 minutes. If you like, sprinkle a little more powdered sugar over the tops. Allow to cool before serving.
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FISH TACOS with creamy cilantro sauce
Use soft corn tortillas or crisp taco shells. Two or three limes should give you all the juice you need for this recipe, and most other ingredients you can pick up at the farmers’ market! (From Cookus Interruptus.)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
1 lb. fish, true cod, halibut or other white fish
8-12 corn tortillas or taco shells
grated cheese
salsa
Sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise or plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon water
Vegetables:
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
4 leaves romaine, rolled and cut in thin strips
1 carrot, grated
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
salt and pepper
1) Combine 1 tablespoon each of lime juice, olive oil and soy sauce in a small bowl and pour over fish. Allow fish to marinate for at least 1/2 hour.
2) Combine all ingredients for sauce in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Cut vegetables. Dress with olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper and toss. Set side dressed vegetables and sauce.
3) Preheat broiler. Place marinated fish on a broiler pan and broil about 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish (10 minutes per inch). Warm tortillas in a skillet with a dab of butter one at a time or bake taco shells. When fish is done, cut into small slices. Place a few fish slices in tortilla with dressed vegetables on top. Pour a tablespoon or two of the sauce over the top and add a bit of grated cheese and salsa if desired. Repeat process for each tortilla.
Serve immediately for dinner, or pack up for lunch the next day! (Pack the tortillas separately from the fish and veggies).
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Makes 2/3 cup sauce, 8-12 tacos
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SMOKY EGGPLANT & PEPPER SPREAD
INGREDIENTS
1 large eggplant
1 large pepper
1/2 lemon
olive oil
This is really the minimum quantity that should be made of this spread, which is a recipe from a cherished Moosewood cookbook. If you’re going to go about roasting these veggies, you may as well make a triple batch because you’ll just want to keep eating it, and the flavors just improve with time.
Poke some holes in the eggplant and wrap it in 3 layers of foil. Place directly on the flame of your stove burner (even an electric stove can be used) or grill (easiest is to do this while you’re grilling up some burgers at the same time). Rotate every 3-5 minutes to make sure it gets evenly cooked; after 20 minutes or when it’s mushy all around, it’s done. Remove from heat, peel back the foil carefully to avoid the steam, slice in half and let drain in a colander.
Meanwhile, roast the pepper directly over the flame, again rotating every couple of minutes. You’ll want to see the skin of the pepper charred. When it’s cool enough to touch, peel off the skin, slice in half, remove the seeds and chop it up to whatever size suits you.
The eggplant should be cool now, so scoop out the mushy insides (but don’t worry if you get a little skin, too) into a bowl where the chopped roasted pepper is waiting. Drizzle olive oil and squeeze the lemon, and add some fresh herbs like basil if you like. Mash it all up, and voila.
Total prep and cooking time: 30 minutes. The eggplant is slightly messy but overall this is very easy to make, and you can do things like flip burgers or make salad while the veggies roast.
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POLLY’S PANCAKES HURRICANE SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Cup pure maple syrup
1 Cup cored, unpeeled, tart apples, thinly sliced
Legend has it that at Polly’s Pancakes in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, back in 1938, a rare hurricane left a wake of destruction from Long Island through to New England. Apples fallen from trees were among the casualties, so Polly’s proprietor, Sugar Bill Dexter, decided to scoop them up and stew them in his own maple syrup with a little butter. This, then, is the silver lining in that hurricane’s cloud.
Simmer the butter and maple syrup in a heavy saucepan. Cook, very gently so that the slices do not break up, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the apples are transparent and the liquid is syrupy. Server warm over pancakes, French toast, vanilla ice cream … Mmmm, yum!