Recipe: Patty's Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Frosting

I would have included a photo of the cookies with this recipe, but they disappeared from the kitchen before I could find the camera!

Pumpkin Cookies

1/2 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 cup roasted pumpkin (or canned pumpkin)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground cinnamon

*I've been taught that, when baking at altitude, it's good to include a little extra flour so the cookies don't flatten when baked. When I tried this recipe the cookies tasted great, but were kind of flat. So, next time I'll add a little more flour.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets

2. In large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the pumpkin and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture (do not overmix). Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until light brown, about 25 minutes.

In the meantime...

Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp maple flavoring*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 - 2 cups confectioners' sugar

*If you don't have maple flavoring, just add a little extra vanilla extract.

Combine the butter, brown sugar and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly; boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in maple flavoring and vanilla extract. Cool slightly, then beat in enough confectioners' sugar to achieve spreading consistency.

Remove cookies to wire racks; frost while warm. You may need to return the frosting to the stovetop to reheat from time to time so the consistency is right for the cookies.

Enjoy!

And MORE Green Tomato Recipes!

The recipes keep pouring in from our CSA & working members. I guess I can understand... I did ask them to take upwards of 20 pounds of green tomatoes home with them at their last CSA pickup!

Brenda sent in this recipe for Poblano Pepper and Green Tomato Chili. She made it with a jalepeno and one of our spicy garden peppers. Brenda also mentioned that the recipe doesn't say when to add the green tomatoes. Brenda put them in at the end during the final cooking.

Morgan sent in a couple of recipes. The first is for Cool 'n' Spicy Green Tomato Soup with Crab and Country Ham. The second is for a dish I've heard talked about many times, but have never tried myself - and I think that this is the year to give it a go! Green Tomato Pie. One tip: Morgan said that the recipe was really tasty (she would have sworn it was apple pie if she hadn't known) but it was really liquidy. She would recommend draining most of the liquid out of the pie mixture before adding it to the crust.

Happy cooking!

More Green Tomato Info!

Jessica sent along these links from Mother Earth News...

A recipe for Roasted Green Tomatoes. Sounds very simple, and a nice way to mellow out the tang of the green fruit.

A discussion entitled "How Long Can You Make Green Tomatoes Last?" Read the comments for some great tips from the Mother Earth News readers!

Indian Green Tomato Recipes

Brenda sent along a link to this blog, entitled "My Diverse Kitchen: A Vegetarian Kitchen in India." This blog has recipes for Green Tomato Relish (pictured), Green Tomato Khorma, Green Tomato Pickle, and Green Tomato and Onion Curry. Khorma is one of my favorite Indian dishes, so I'm really excited to check out the recipe. To visit the blog, click here.

Recipe: Stuffed Zucchini

This recipe was created by Angela, one of our CSA members. She said it was delicious, and I think the picture is beautiful, too!

1 medium round zucchini

1 pound Italian seasoned ground turkey

1 can petite diced tomato, drained

cooking spray

garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350. Cut top off zucchini and carve out middle until walls are approximately 1/2 inch thick. Discard seeds and stringy material, keeping most of the inside of the zucchini. Spray inside of zucchini with cooking spray and salt with garlic salt. Bake for 15 minutes.

Dice remaining zucchini pieces. Brown turkey. Add diced tomato and zucchini when turkey is almost done. Continue to cook for another few minutes.

Remove zucchini shell from oven. Pour turkey mixture into zucchini shell and return to oven for 15 minutes. After cooling for a few minutes, slice and serve.

Herbs: Freezing & Butters

The gardens have been producing an abundance of fresh oregano, tarragon, savory, parsley, and sage. While we all enjoy fresh herbs in the summer, it can also be nice to save some for future use in the kitchen.

Freezing Herbs

Rinse herbs and remove any tough or brown stems. Place herbs in a food processor and puree. You probably won't have to add water, but can add a teaspoon or so if it's needed to help the mixture blend.

Spoon the pureed herbs into an ice cube tray. Cover the top of the tray with plastic wrap and freeze.

You can pop the herbs out a cube at a time for winter soups or sauces.

Herb Butters

Some of our gardners have been making herb butter by simply mixing finely chopped herbs with softened butter. The butter can be used immediately, or it can also be frozen.

If you'd like a more detailed recipe, just click here.

Recipe: Savory Zucchini Pancakes

I learned how to make these from Bhavani at Shoshoni Yoga Retreat. They make a wonderful light lunch or dinner, and the recipe is very versatile.

Makes 3 large pancakes; serves 2-3 people.

2 cups shredded zucchini (or other summer squash)

2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs

1 egg

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

dash of tabasco

olive oil or ghee (for cooking)

Mix zucchini, herbs, and egg in large bowl. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until mixed. Add tabasco.

Pour olive oil or ghee into a non-stick frying pan. Heat oil over medium low heat. Spread batter in the pan, making a pancake about 5-6 inches in diameter. Cook slowly over medium low heat. When the first side is browned, flip the pancake.

Serve sprinkled with salt and pepper. Can be served topped with sour cream or cottage cheese and chopped tomatoes.

*It's important to cook the pancakes over medium low heat so that the inside has time to cook thoroughly. If the heat is too high, the outside of the pancake will cook, but the inside will still be soft.

*You can add any number of things to the batter for variation: chopped onion, diced garlic, or chopped arugula, spinach or chard.

Recipe: Mint and Sage

This week we have an abundance of mint and sage. Both have very distinct flavors that can completely change the taste of a dish.

My favorite use for mint is as a topping for vanilla ice cream. It's also great in mojitos, and can be chopped in any mediterranean grain dishes (like cous cous).

Deborah Madison uses both mint and basil in this Chilled Tropical Melon Soup recipe. Canteloupe is in season right now - try to get a Rocky Ford melon!

I think that sage goes well in eggs and with potatoes. Bon Appetit has a Sage and Honey Skillet Cornbread recipe that features sage in an unusual way.

Recipe: 101 Simple Salads for the Season

A wonderful compilation of 101 simple salads by Mark Bittman of The New York Times. Fabulous ideas, like grated carrots with toasted sunflower seeds, blueberries, olive oil, and lemon juice. Click here for the article. (Many thanks to Judy for bringing these salad recipes to me at the market)

Recipe: Parsley Pesto

To make pesto with parsley you basically follow the same recipe you'd use for basil pesto (with one important substitution). This pesto is great with fish, chicken, or in pasta. As always, prepare it "to taste" -- fiddle with the quantities until it tastes right to you!

1 cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 garlic clove, minced

1 Tblsp olive oil

salt to taste

Puree in food processor until smooth.

Recipe: Beets by Deborah Madison

Both of these recipes were taken from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by the incomparable Deborah Madison.

Five Minute Beets

4 medium beets

1 tablespoon butter

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Fresh lemon juice or vinegar to taste

2 tablespoons chopped parsley, tarragon, dill or other herb

Grate beets into coarse shreds. Melt the butter in a skillet, add the beets, and toss them with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Add 1/4 cup water, then cover the pan and cook over medium heat until the beets are tender. Remove the lid and raise the heat to boil off any excess water. Taste for salt, season with a little lemon juice or vinegar - balsamic or red wine is good - and toss with the herbs. If you don't mind the shocking color, you can stir in a tablespoon of yogurt or sour cream, always a good addition to beets.

***

Vinegared Beets Nested in Their Greens

Deborah says that this recipe is perfect for small garden beets.

8 small beets

2-3 tsps butter or olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tsp balsamic or sherry vinegar

Remove the greens, scrub the beets, and steam until tender, 15 to 30 minutes. Peel and set aside. Steam the greens until tender, about 5 minutes, then toss with half the butter and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the greens in a nest on a plate. In another pan, heat the beets with the remaining butter. Add the vinegar and shake the pan until it evaporates. Spoon the beets into the center of the greens and serve.

Easy Roasting Garlic

Sometimes nothing beats roasted garlic. After several years of trying more complicated methods, I've found that what works best for me is just to wrap the whole head (unpeeled) in tinfoil, then heat in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Once the head cools, the roasted cloves can be easily squeezed out of their skins.

Or, if you'd rather, you can try this method for roasting garlic with olive oil. Both ways are delicious!

Recipe: White Bean Salad with Wild Salmon

Serves 4. They have a great canned wild Alaskan salmon at Costco, for only about a dollar a can.

2 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped herbs (tarragon, savory, parsley, oregano, and/or thyme)

1/2 cup chopped arugula

1 can wild salmon, drained

juice from 1/4 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients (be cautious with the salt, since canned beans are already salted). Adjust ingredients to taste. This can be served immediately, or refrigerated for a few hours to let the flavors blend.

Recipe: Roasted Vegetables with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

This dish can be made with beets, carrots, and/or turnips. Roast the vegetables and saute the beet greens as described in this article. Toss with blue cheese crumbles and chopped walnuts.

Singing the Praises of Purslane

Since I started looking into the health benefits of purslane, it's been nothing but good news. Men's Health published a list of the 10 Best Foods You Aren't Eating, and purslane made the list (along with guava and prunes). Also, I was reading a yahoo article today about mental health, and they point to omega-3s (which purslane has lots of) as helpful in preventing inflammation.

The other night I made burritos with black beans, roasted potatoes, sauteed squash, cheese, purslane, and salsa. They were delicious!

Sasha (one of our working members) makes smoothies every morning for her girls that include purslane from her yard.

This month Food & Wine magazine

featured a recipe for Chilled

Zucchini Soup with Purslane.

How to Make Herb-Infused Vinegar

Our gardens have been producing lots of savory, thyme, parsley, tarragon, oregano, and sage. Jessica, one of our working members, is interested in making herb-infused vinegars. Here's what she found (thanks, Jessica!):

These instructions are adapted from the Bountiful Pantry class with Sandy Cruz (http://hialtpc.org/). She's having another class August 29, and I highly recommend it for learning about preserving foods without freezing or canning.

Containers: Use only glass jars with screw lids, caps, or corks. Small canning jars work well. Wash and then sterilize the jars and lids in simmering hot water for 10 minutes, or run them through the dishwasher and use right away.

Vinegars: Use good-quality, distilled white vinegar for delicate herbs. Use cider or wine vinegar for stronger herbs.

Flavorings: Use culinary herbs (basil, mint, tarragon, etc.), as well as garlic and citrus peels. Everything should be very fresh and washed, with bad parts trimmed off.
Use 3-4 sprigs of herbs or 6-8 small cloves of garlic or chunks of citrus peel per quart of vinegar. Reduce the amount of flavorings for smaller jars of vinegar. You can still use 3-4 sprigs, but make them smaller. They should fit in the jar easily, with room for the vinegar to cover them. Try making several small jars with different flavors, and use no more than three flavorings per vinegar.

Examples: basil and cider vinegar; sage and tarragon with white wine vinegar; garlic, mint, and lemon peel with white wine vinegar

Procedure: Put the flavoring in the bottle and add the vinegar to cover all of the flavorings. Cap tightly and place in a cool, dark place or the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks. Then strain out the flavorings and return the vinegar to the jar. Keep it tightly capped in a cool, dark place. It should last 2-4 months, but check for odd smell, color, taste, or appearance before using. Trust your senses. If something doesn't seem right, don't use it. If you're really worried about bacteria, stick to distilled white vinegar.

Recipe: Fried Herbed Polenta

This is adapted from a recipe by Faith Stone of Shoshoni Yoga Retreat. Polenta is known in the south as corn grits, and it can be purchased in the bulk section of Whole Foods. I would guess that they also sell it at Sunflower, although I haven't checked. Ghee is clarified unsalted butter. It is popular in traditional Indian cooking, and it is also used for sauteeing in fine dining restaurants. They do sell ghee in Indian grocery stores, but it's much cheaper and easier to just make your own.

1 cup polenta

3 1/2 cups boiling water

1/2 tsp salt

Pinch of pepper

Dash of pepper sauce (like Tabasco)

Handful of chopped fresh herbs (oregano, parsley, tarragon, savory, thyme, or basil)

2 tsp ghee or olive oil

1/2 cup shredded cheese (optional)

Additional ghee or olive oil for frying

Add polenta slowly to boiling water, whisking. Bring back to a boil, whisking steadily. Add salt, pepper, pepper sauce, herbs, olive oil and cheese, whisking until smooth. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture has the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Pour into a buttered bread loaf pan and chill until solid (about 3 hours). Slice the polenta cross-wise (like bread) and lightly fry. Serve alone or with fresh tomatoes or marinara sauce.

5280

5280 is a wonderful local magazine highlighting the restaurants, artists, businesses, etc in Denver and the surrounding areas. Every month they have a feature called "In My Kitchen," where they talk with a local restaurant person about how they entertain at home.

They asked me to participate in the January issue. I really tried to place an emphasis on local and seasonal eating. I'm glad that the Colorado wine and spirits got a mention! I'm also happy that they mentioned DINR (the Denver Independent Network of Restaurants), since DINR's main event each year is Harvest Week, a celebration of local food and beverages.

You can click on the article to view the whole thing, the click on it again to make the text bigger.