Stir Fried Turnips with Greens

From Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. This is a simple and tasty way to use your turnips and greens.

3/4 cup orange juice
2 TB soy sauce
3 medium scallions
4 med garlic cloves
1 TB minced ginger
1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 TB plus 1 tsp peanut oil
1.5 lbs Salad Turnips or Spring Dug Turnips, cut into 3/4 wedges or chunks
5 cups packed, stemmed greens (Pac Choi, Braising Greens, Yukina Savoy, Chard, etc)

Combine orange juice and soy in measuring cup. Place scallions, garlic ginger, red pepper flakes in small bowl. Heat 1 TB oil in large skillet over med high heat until shimmering. Add turnips and stir fry until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Push turnips to edges of pan, spread garlic mixture in center of pan. Drizzle remaining 1 tsp oil over mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir to combine with turnips. Add orange juice mixture to pan, cover and cook, until turnips are creamy and tender and liquid has reduced to a few tablespoons (2-3 minutes). Add greens, cover and cook until just wilted, about 1 minute. (If the contents of the pan are too soupy, simmer with the cover off to reduce the liquid to a sauce consistency.). Serve immediately.

Kale and Celeriac Chowder

I've adapted Deborah Madison's original Endive and Celeriac Chowder to accommodate the items of today's share. The result should be an ideal for soup for a cold, late-fall supper. Serves 4.

2 TB unsalted butter
1/2 lb. kale leaves, washed and chopped
2 leeks, white parts only, chopped and rinsed well
2 shallots, chopped
1/2 lb. kohlrabi, peeled and chopped fine
1/2 lb. yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes
1/2 lb. celery root, peeled and cut into small dice
2 large carrots, diced
2 tsp thyme leaves, chopped (or 3/4 tsp. dried, crumbled)
1 bay leaf
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup cream
dash of dry sherry

2 TB finely chopped parsley*
1 TB snipped chives*
1 tsp chopped taragon*
4 slices country bread
2 ounces Manchester cheese (or Gruyere), thinly sliced

Melt the butter in a wide large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables, thyme and bay leaf. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables smell good and there's a little glaze on the bottom of the pot, about 7 minutes.

Add stock to cover along with 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are soft to the point of falling apart, about 25 minutes. Using a stick blender, puree the soup so that it is a light green, with only a few chunks remaining. Pour in the cream, taste for salt and season with pepper. Stir in half the herbs.*

Toast the bread and cut each piece into halves or quarters. Divide the pieces among 4 bowls and cover with the cheese. Ladle the soup over the toast and cheese and serve garnished with a dash of sherry and remaining fresh herbs.

*If you don't have frozen versions of these from the summer, try mixing 1/3 of the amount called for in dry form into the soup while it cooks.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Thinking about Mardis Gras got me thinking about New Orleans, which got me thinking about gumbo. You can actually do this pretty locally. My husband Bob, who is in the kitchen now, is using sausage from Maple Wind farm, Pete's stock, and chicken from my neighbor. We subbed celeriac for the celery, frozen chives from my garden for the green onions, and also hit the freezer for parsley and peppers. Recipe adapted from The Chicago Tribune Cookbook. Serves 8.

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 chicken, about 4 lbs, quartered
1/2 cup flour
1 pound andouille or kielbasa, cut into 1/4 inch-thick-slices (or crumbled)
2 cups each, chopped onion, chopped celery
1 cup chopped green onions
1/4 chopped parsley
5 large cloves garlic, minced
2 quarts chicken stock
3 bay leaves, crumbled
2 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp each: dried leaf thyme, freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 1/2 to 3 TB file powder
cooked rice or barley
hot pepper sauce to taste

Heat oil in a 7 or 9 quart heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken quarters in single layer. Cook until brown on all sides. Remove and reserve chicken. Add flour to hot oil and stir until smooth. Cook and stir constantly, over medium-high heat, until roux is the color of cinnamon. Remove from heat. Stir in sliced sausage, yellow onions, celery, green onions, green pepper, parsley and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 cup of the chicken broth, scraping up brown bits from bottom of the pan. Stir in browned chicken, bay leaves, salt, thyme, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Stir in remaining broth. Heat to boil over medium heat. Skim off surface scum. Reduce heat to low; simmer, uncovered until chicken is tender, 35-45 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Remove chicken pieces from gumbo. Skim all fat from surface of gumbo. Remove skin and bones from chicken and discard. Shred chicken and add back to pot. Reheat to boil. Remove from heat; let simmer die down. Add file powder and stir. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve in soup bowls over rice or barley. Pass the hot pepper sauce.

Beet and Cabbage Borscht

Adapted from a recipe on Epicurious.com, borscht is a great cold weather way to enjoy your beets. This recipe, interestingly, incorporates cabbage as well. Serves 4.

3 tablespoons sunflower oil
3/4 pound potatoes, peeled, chopped
2 1/2 cups chopped cabbage (about 1/4 of small head)
1 large onion, chopped
8 cups (or more) canned vegetable broth
6 2-inch-diameter beets, peeled, chopped
1 cup drained canned chopped tomatoes or frozen tomato puree (thawed)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Low-fat sour cream or plain yogurt
Chopped fresh parsley
Lemon wedges

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, cabbage and onion and sauté until cabbage softens, about 5 minutes. Add 8 cups broth, beets and tomatoes. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Working in small batches, puree 4 cups of soup in blender; return to remaining soup in pot. If desired, add more broth by 1/2 cupfuls to thin soup. Add lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with dollop of sour cream or yogurt; sprinkle with parsley. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.

Stir Fried Turnips with Greens

From Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen. Serves 4.

3/4 cup orange juice
2 TB soy sauce
3 medium scallions
4 med garlic cloves
1 TB minced ginger
1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 TB plus 1 tsp peanut oil
1.5 lbs Spring Dug Turnips, cut into 3/4 wedges or chunks
5 cups packed, stemmed greens (turnip greens, mustard greens, spinach etc)

Combine orange juice and soy in measuring cup. Place scallions, garlic ginger, red pepper flakes in small bowl. Heat 1 TB oil in large skillet over med high heat until shimmering. Add turnips and stir fry until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Push turnips to edges of pan, spread garlic mixture in center of pan. Drizzle remaining 1 tsp oil over mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir to combine with turnips. Add orange juice mixture to pan, cover and cook, until turnips are creamy and tender and liquid has reduced to a few tablespoons (2-3 minutes). Add greens, cover and cook until just wilted, about 1 minute. (If the contents of the pan are too soupy, simmer with the cover off to reduce the liquid to a sauce consistency.). Serve immediately.

the soup base in the share today should be put in the freezer until you are planning to make a hearty soup. The soup base is made of many kinds of root vegetables and squash and other vegetables on the farm. It is simmered until the vegetables are soft and then the vegetable puree is made. Try adding some next time you make a hearty soup or stew. The soup base is vitamin and mineral packed and will add a depth of flavor to your soup. Thaw the quart container when you plan to make soup, and if you don't use the whole thing, refreeze immediately for next use.