Grain-Free Almond Pancakes

Once you try these, you may begin to see the merits of eschewing grains.  Tender and satisfying, these pancakes actually are reminiscent of IHOP's famous Harvest Grain 'n Nut pancakes, with a slightly crunchy texture and an oh-so-nutty flavor.

GRAIN-FREE ALMOND PANCAKES
Cinnamon, grated orange peel, cardamom ... plenty of room for creativity here in spicing things up! 

2 cups almond flour
5 local grassfed eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk, milk or yogurt
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or not)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder (I use Hains or Rumfords)

Back four pancakes have been flipped; front four have not.

1/4 teaspoon salt

In medium mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together almond flour, eggs, milk of choice, optional maple syrup, and vanilla. 

Heat griddle over medium heat, and swish some butter or coconut oil over it if desired.

Stir baking soda, baking powder and salt into batter.  Drop about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle; you want to aim for about 4-inch diameter pancakes. 

The pancakes won't take very long to bake.  After a couple of minutes, lift gently to check for browning.  I usually let a few bubbles form and begin to burst before checking.  When turning the pancakes, use two smallish spatulas ... one to flip and one to stabilize. 

Serve with berries or other fruits. I sometimes serve them with pineapple and sliced banana. 

Makes 16 4-inch pancakes.

Duck Eggs

I probably should have seen this coming, but of course I did not.  Being a tad impulsive when in the presence of interesting food opportunities, and because the duck experiment turned out so well, I couldn't resist continuing the duck theme, and so picked up a box of Russ and Laurie's duck eggs when I saw them in the cooler with the chicken eggs at the Northwest Seafood Market pickup site.

Googling, I find that duck eggs are larger and richer than chicken eggs, and the shells are harder to crack.  After using the duck eggs in a scrumptious omelette, and in another berry flaugnarde, I can attest that both facts are true.  I honestly think one duck egg is equal to two chicken eggs.  Easy.

As well, duck eggs are supposed to perform exceptionally well in baking, possibly due to their extra rich quality.  I plan to use them in a grain-free bread or pancake recipe to see if the higher rise and better texture claims are true.

The duck eggs are available for $4.75 a dozen in the cooler at Northwest Seafood Market in Richland, but if there aren't any there, contact Russ at his website.

Update:  Due to job changes and a relocation, Russ will be shutting down his farm after the winter egg subscriptions end later this month.  As long as the eggs are available, they'll be in the cooler at Northwest Seafood Market.  Contact Russ if you need the details to order and pick up meat chickens, which will be processed next weekend.  Wow, I'll really miss Russ and Laurie's wonderful products.  My deepest gratitude and best wishes to you in this next adventure in life!

Pear and Cardamom Breakfast Cookies

A batch of these grain-free delights is easy to make and keep in the fridge, and the cookies are a welcome sight on mornings when you don't feel like spending a lot of time cooking breakfast.  The original recipe called for apple, but my lovely red CSA pears inspired me to try them instead.

Of course, there are many variations and options with fruit and spices for this cookie.  As well, you can leave the fruit in dice and stir it in just before baking, for a fruit-studded cookie, or blend the fruit in for a smoother, sleeker cookie.
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PEAR AND CARDAMOM BREAKFAST COOKIES
Adapted from This Primal Life

If you use use very large pears or apples, ultimately you'll have more liquid and thus a runnier batter.  You want the batter to hold a cookie shape.  If your fruit is very large, considering using half of it, or doubling the recipe.

1 cup almonds
3 dates (optional; the fruit makes the cookies nicely sweet)

Scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 tablespoons butter, ghee or oil
1 smallish CSA red pear, peeled, cored and diced

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in small skillet, and cook the pear, stirring occasionally, until it is heated through and no longer crisp.  It can still be firm.  Remove from heat.

In food processor, process almonds and optional dates until a fine meal forms.  Add salt, baking soda and cardamom, and pulse a few times.

Add eggs, vanilla, and pears, including any butter from the skillet, to food processor and pulse just until well mixed.  Alternatively, transfer batter to a bowl and then stir in the pear chunks and liquid.

Drop by large spoonfuls on Silpat-lined baking sheet.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned and firm.  Remove to wire racks to cool. 

Makes 4 large cookies (which is why I usually double the recipe!  They keep well in the fridge.)

Grain Free Banana Bread

As part of our Gluten-Free January project, I've tried a few (very few) recipes for baked goods that will satisfy our acquired-over-decades taste for something ....well, baked.

I say "few" because one thing you don't want to do in a healthy diet is replace something unhealthy (white flour baked goods) with something grain free (made with almond flour, almond butter, etc.) and eat it in the same amounts as the white flour stuff.

Muffins, breads and pancakes made with almond butter or almond flour are superb, but they contain enough fat to boost your daily fat intake up to even the Primal Diet's 65 percent fairly quickly.  Fortunately, they are also more satisfying and filling!  Because they contain few to no concentrated carbs, they don't set you up for the never-ending, carb-craving cycle.

A slice of this bread for breakfast, with fruit, fits nicely into the overall scheme.  The Smart Palette's recipe called for unsweetened chocolate chips, which I measured out and had standing by.  But I forgot to put them in!  I also forgot to sprinkle the top with date sugar, as called for!

No matter.  A delicately banana-flavored and filling bread this is, indeed.  You will be amazed that it is flour free.
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GRAIN FREE BANANA BREAD
From The Smart Palate, who adapted it from Grain-Free Foodies

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 cup unsalted almond butter

2 tablespoons freshly ground flax seeds (I used a blade coffee grinder)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Generous pinch of fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1/3 cup chopped unsweetened dark chocolate or unsweetened dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon date sugar, for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In medium mixing bowl, with electric mixer, combine bananas, eggs, almond butter, flax seeds, cinnamon, vanilla and salt.  Blend very well; mixture should be quite smooth.

Add baking soda and vinegar and mix briefly.  If desired, stir in chocolate.

Spoon batter into a greased (use butter, ghee, or coconut oil) small loaf pan.  I used a small Pyrex loaf pan that measures 7-3/4" by 4-1/2".  If desired, sprinkle date sugar atop batter.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of loaf comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes on a rack, then gently loosen sides with a thin spatula, turn loaf out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely before slicing.

Butternut and Spinach Frittata with Cream and Walnuts

Mmm, creamy, squashy, nutty ... superbly satisfying on a cold January evening, with a green salad and grapefruit wedges.

Crank's Bible is a rich compendium of intriguing combinations, and gives great consideration, in an easygoing way, to the pleasure of both eye and palette. I found this cookbook on a sale table some years ago, picked it up, put it down, walked off, walked back ... you know the drill.

I'd had this recipe marked for weeks, and, finally, the perfect evening for it arrived.  I used my CSA butternut squash cubes, previously frozen, and local Davis Farms walnuts, Pure Eire cream, and CG Ranch eggs.

Believe it or not, I took this recipe down by half.  Nadine Abensur's version was positively Bacchanalian, with a whole dozen eggs and a cup of cream!  I did, however, use her full amount of garlic, on my yet-to-be-disproven theory that in most savory dishes, garlic is always welcome.
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BUTTERNUT AND SPINACH FRITTATA WITH CREAM AND WALNUTS
Adapted from Crank's Bible, by Nadine Abensur

6 local eggs
1/2 cup Pure Eire cream
4 fat garlic cloves, or 8 smaller ones, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

1 pound butternut squash cubes
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon tamari
Dash of Tabasco, or red curry paste, or ground chipotle

5 ounces spinach leaves, washed and big stems removed, or use baby spinach
About 1/4 cup walnut pieces, broken into large-ish pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In small bowl, whisk eggs, cream, garlic, salt and pepper, and set aside to infuse.

In large bowl, toss squash cubes with olive oil, tamari and Tabsco, and spread on Silpat-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until squash is fairly soft and edges have begun to carmelize.

Remove squash from oven, spread spinach leaves over squash, and stir the spinach in gently.  Return to oven for a few minutes, or until the spinach has wilted a bit.

Carefully spoon squash and spinach mixture onto a frittata pan or suitably sized ovenproof nonstick or seasoned cast iron skillet.  Heat over medium heat just until skillet is hot.  Pour egg mixture over squash, to fill out to edges of pan.

Now, you may either gently move the squash around, scraping with your spatula through to the pan bottom to allow egg mixture to fully cook, as the author did, or use my optional method of setting the frittata back into the oven, checking every few minutes to see if the eggs have gently set.  You don't want the frittata to get dry.

Sprinkle walnuts atop, and leave to set a while at room temperature.  Nadine Abensur says this gives it "time to settle and ease into itself."  (You see why I bought her cookbook?)

Serves 4 generously.

Mixed Berry Flaugnarde with Vanilla Bean

Mixed berry what?

This lush, earthy yet sophisticated dessert proved a beautiful, delicately vanilla-scented solution for a Costco-sized bag of mixed berries that had crouched for months (years?) in the bottom of my freezer.   You know, the one you keep moving around when you're looking for other stuff.  And you think, "What can I do with two pounds of mixed berries?  Why did I buy them in the first place?"

I love The Nourished Kitchen blog, and was enchanted by this recipe that is so satisfying to the senses, uses my berry largesse, and assuages my conscience for ignoring that bag 'o berries for so long.

A flaugnarde (flewn-YARD) is apparently kin to the clafoutis (kah-floo-TEE), but it is flourless and more custardy.  As it happened, my aunt had given me a tube of vanilla beans (she'd been to Costco, too, and shared), and my Pure Eire cream was ready for something new.

It does add a little continental flair to say "we're having flewn-YARD" for dessert, but this lovely dish would be good even without announcing it with a French accent.
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MIXED BERRY FLAUGNARDE WITH VANILLA BEAN
Adapted from The Nourished Kitchen

2 pounds mixed fresh or frozen berries
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 egg
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup maple syrup

1 vanilla bean (optional)

Preheat oven to350 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss berries with vanilla extract.  Put berries in a baking dish, and roast them for 20 minutes. They should have released most of their juices.

Carefully spoon berries into a colander set over a bowl.  Let them drain thoroughly; a screen mesh colander is best.  You want them to be as juice-free as possible.  Save the juices to use for flavoring other things like smoothies and ice cream, or simmer the juices down to make a lovely, vanilla-scented syrup.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk thoroughly the egg, egg yolks, cream and maple syrup.

Pour the strained berries into a shallow baking dish.  I used a 10 1/2-inch Corning ware dish with 1 1/2-inch-tall sides.  Spread berries evenly over bottom of dish.  If using vanilla bean, lay it on top of the berries.   Pour batter over berries and bake for 45 minutes or until the flaugnarde browns and the egg is just set.

Best served warm, after it cools just a bit.

Makes 4 generous servings, or 6 smaller ones

Western Dried Fruits Cake

A gem of a cake made entirely of nuts and dried fruits, with just enough vanilla-scented batter to hold it all together.  Beautiful, jewel-like slices go wonderfully with coffee and tea, or on a plate of cookies and candies for dessert after a holiday meal.

This recipe came out in the 80's and I've seen many versions since then, varying the fruits and nuts, adding candied ginger and such.  But for a pure, heavenly taste that unquestionably deserves all the superlatives you can give it, this original version is the ticket.

I've been making this cake in little foil pans for around 25 years now, and giving them as gifts.  Merry Christmas!
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WESTERN DRIED FRUITS CAKE
From Sunset Magazine

A couple of hints:  Snip the apricots into quarters using kitchen shears.  It's easier than using a knife.  To butter the pans, use a brush dipped in melted butter; brush the butter onto the waxed paper lining also.

1 cup chopped pitted dates
2 cups quartered dried apricots
1 cup golden raisins
1-1/2 cups whole blanched almonds
1-1/2 cups walnut pieces
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter a 5- x 9-inch loaf pan; line with baking parchment or waxed paper, then butter the paper.

In small bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder to blend.  

In large bowl, combine dates, apricots, raisins, almonds and walnuts.  Add flour mixture to fruits and mix evenly.

Beat eggs with vanilla to blend.  Stir thoroughly into fruit mixture.  Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and spread evenly; press batter into corners of pan, and press batter down as you fill the pan so there are no gaps.  Shape the batter so it's a bit rounded on the top of the loaf.

Bake in a 300-degree oven until golden brown, about 2 hours.  Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out of pan.  Peel off paper and let cake cool on rack.

Wrap in plastic wrap or foil.  Chill at least two days or up to two months.  Or eat it immediately!  The flavor is excellent fresh, too.  If desired, sprinkle the top of the cake with 1 tablespoon rum or brandy once a week.

Makes 1 loaf

Gift loaves option:  Double the recipe.  Use six small foil loaf pans, about 3 x 6 inches.  Butter and line pans as instructed above.  Be sure to push batter into corners of pans and press down so the loaf is compact.  Bake at 250 degrees (a cooler temperature than the big, single loaf) for 2 hours.  Watch the cakes during the last hour to prevent burning.  For these small loaves, I found that 300 degrees was too hot.

Leek and Portobello Frittata with Thyme and Oregonzola

Leeks have become a real favorite of mine, and were frequently available at the farmer's markets this summer.  The other night, I realized that my garden thyme was still producing, there was a hunk of Oregonzola cheese in the fridge, and I had two local leeks and a portobello mushroom.  The planets aligned, and this dish was born.  A classic combination of great savory flavors.

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 LEEK AND PORTOBELLO FRITTATA WITH THYME AND OREGONZOLA

2 tablespoons butter
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced thinly
1 big 'ol portobello mushroom, stem removed and cut in 1/4-inch slices

1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried

6 to 8 local, free-range eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon crumbled Oregonzola cheese

In frittata pan or medium-sized ovenproof skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Saute the leeks just until they become somewhat soft.  Add the mushroom slices, and carefully saute for a few minutes or until the mushrooms have become somewhat soft.  Push the leeks around to cover the bottom of the skillet, and bring the mushroom slices to the top.  You can arrange them in a starburst design if you wish.  Scatter a little salt and pepper over all, then carefully pour on the eggs to fill the pan.  Lift up the mushrooms if any become covered with eggs.  Scatter garlic and thyme leaves over all.  Continue cooking on stovetop for a couple of minutes or until eggs begin to set.

Place pan in oven and bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until eggs are just set.  Watch carefully; you don't want the frittata to be too dry.

Remove from oven, wrap potholders around handles so no one gets burned, and scatter the cheese across the top.  Cut with spatula into wedges.  Serve hot.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Chilis Rellenos Americanos

I have always loved chilis rellenos. Authentic recipes call for dipping the whole cheese-stuffed poblano pepper into egg batter and deep frying it. The stem end is left on for a very rustic experience.

Over the years I reserved chilis rellenos for special occasions when eating out, and never made them at home. Then, about six years ago, I decided to come up with my own recipe, one that would satisfy but be less greasy. I've made it many times, always in the summer when the poblano peppers start appearing at the farmers' markets.

The dish is wonderfully warm, smoky, chile-y, eggy and satisfying. It would make a great breakfast casserole, but I usually serve it with cornbread and coleslaw for dinner.

Be warned that roasting peppers indoors WILL set off your smoke alarms. At the Richland Farmers' Market, there's a vendor who will roast your peppers over a gas flame while you wait. It doesn't take long, but you'll want to get right home and refrigerate the roasted peppers 'til you're ready to use them.

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CHILIS RELLENOS AMERICANOS

Smoky chipotle salsa is simply a can of chipotle peppers "en adobo" (sauce), which you puree and store in the fridge. This little jar of smoky heat will come in handy for a lot of dishes.

6 or 8 poblano peppers (you may see these incorrectly called "pasilla" peppers)
16 ounces or so grated jack, pepper jack, cheddar, or a mixture of cheeses you like (smoked gouda gives the finished dish a more smoky flavor)

8 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Sliced green onions if you have them
Smoky chipotle salsa, about 1 tablespoon

Wash the peppers and cut the stems off. Reach down into the center and remove the seeds. If using a pepper roaster over a gas flame, turn on your exhaust fan. Arrange about three peppers at a time over the flame so they get maximum exposure. As skins start to pop and char, turn to expose all sides and, when peppers are charred evenly, toss them into a bowl lined with a paper towel, and cover them immediately. Roast remaining peppers and let them cool gradually in the covered bowl for 15 to 20 minutes.

Alternatively, arrange peppers on oven rack and turn oven to 500 degrees. Turn on exhaust fan. Roast peppers 'til skins start to pop and char; turn if necessary. Continue with step calling for putting them in a paper-towel-lined bowl and covering them. You can also place them in a brown paper bag, rolling the top down closed.

Rub the peppers to remove the black char as much as possible. Lay them out on your work surface.

Beat eggs with milk, salt and crushed red pepper until very well blended.

Set aside some of the grated cheese to sprinkle on the top of the dish. Form remaining grated cheese into fists, as many as you have peppers. Gently open the peppers and put the cheese into the cavity. Arrange peppers in a casserole, and pour the egg mixture over. Scatter sliced green onions on top.

Bake casserole at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes, or until knife inserted into egg mixture comes out clean.

Drizzle smoky chipotle salsa over the top, then brush it around to coat top of casserole. Sprinkle reserved cheese atop, and serve.

Makes 6 to 8 servings, depending on how many peppers you used.

Spicy, Gingery Chard with Eggs

How could I have gone so long on this blog without mentioning Martha? Years ago I found an Indian-spiced, curried-tomatoes-with-egg dish in her magazine, but tonight I had CHARD to use up. Gorgeous, rainbow-stemmed organic chard. Seemed to me chard would work just as well as the main ingredient, and it most definitely did.

This makes a great, quick dinner. I served it with whole wheat chapati (really just whole-wheat tortillas from the health food store freezer section) and sliced mango. I know! I should be using local fruit! But when I go to Costco I can't resist their lovely champagne mangoes ... they are buttery soft, sweet and flavorful. Besides, it's good to let one's local nectarines and cantaloupes ripen for another day.

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SPICY, GINGERY CHARD WITH EGGS
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Garam masala is a mellow Indian spice mixture that I prefer over the turmeric and cumin called for. It has a wonderfully, slightly sweet, spicy complexity.

1 tablespoon ghee, coconut oil, or vegetable oil
3 small bunches tender, young chard
2 fresh tomatoes
1/2 of a red onion, diced, or a few shallots

1 tablespoon garam masala, or curry powder, or a mixture of turmeric and cumin
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 serrano pepper, chopped (seeded if it's too hot)

Salt and pepper

3 to 5 fresh eggs

Wash chard, trim stem ends, and tear leaves away from stems. Chop the stems in 1/2-inch pieces, and pile the leaves in a big bowl. Run your kitchen shears through chard leaves a few times to chop them down.

Chop the garlic, ginger and serrano in a small food processor or by hand.

In large skillet, heat oil on medium heat, and add chopped chard stems and onion. Cook for a few minutes until onions begin to soften.

Sprinkle the garam masala over the tomato mixture, and stir for a minute or so to toast the spice and bring out the flavor. Add the tomatoes, stir, and cook for a few minutes to release tomato juices. Stir in the chopped ginger, garlic and serrano. Add a little water if mixture is dry.

When tomato mixture is bubbling nicely, toss in the chopped chard leaves, and cover for a few minutes, letting the chard cook down. Stir, and continue cooking until chard is wilted and cooked. Make sure there's enough liquid in the pan to keep all from sticking.

Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste. Stir, then make 3 or 5 (depending on how many eggs you are using) indentions in the chard with a large spoon.

Break each egg into a small bowl, then tip into an indention. Cover pan and let eggs simmer for 5 minutes, or until whites are set. It's nice to have the yolks be a little runny (I think), but you may feel differently.

You can sprinkle a little cilantro over the top if you have some. I didn't, and didn't miss it.

Serves 2 to 4.

Joe's Special (And So Are You)

From Mark Bittman (and me) comes this variation on a classic dish. Brown up a pound of local ground beef along with some fresh chopped garlic (available in the Spring at farmer's markets) and local onion. For fun, chop up some baby bok choy that you bought at the farmer's market on a whim, and stir it in with the onion. Add a bag of fresh, local spinach, washed and snipped down with kitchen shears, and stir 'til it's cooked, then break about four local eggs into the mix and stir 'em in. Don't forget salt and pepper. I topped ours with my newest thrilling local find, smoked goat cheese from a local farmer. He calls it "Goat Colby."

Now, I'm the kind of person who puts eggs in bowls and beats them before adding them to a dish like this, but tonight I reformed. It's liberating! Just crack the four eggs open on top of the hot meat mixture, break the yolks with your spatula, and stir 'til everything's cooked.

Alongside local sugar snap peas so young you don't even need to string 'em, local radishes, and local strawberries for dessert, this Joe's Special is robust dish that makes a good warm-day meal because there's no oven involved. You can play with the ingredients endlessly, all summer long.

And you know what? This is another Entirely Local Meal. Bravo!

Lemon, Almond and Rosemary Cake

Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons is my go-to cookbook for lush, inspiring photographs and recipes. Whenever we have a lightning storm, I get out this cookbook ... because once I was reading it when a lightning storm with drenching rain struck, and somehow a full-circle connection was created between nature's majesty, me, and this book. It leans definitely to the Middle-Eastern, and ever since that last big storm we had a while back, I've been thinking about trying this cake. I used homemade sourdough bread that already had rosemary in it, organic lemons, organic sugar, and my luscious local eggs.

The author suggests serving it with berries, but my little patch of strawberries is just beginning to produce, so we augmented them with mango when it came time to partake. This cake has a wonderfully grainy texture, a sweet lemony tang, and an exotic, Middle-Eastern syrupy aspect, all infused with the woodsy essence of rosemary.

I know it's not health food, but it's soul food.

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LEMON, ALMOND AND ROSEMARY CAKE
Adapted from Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons by Diana Henry

For the cake:

2 ounces stale white bread (3/4 cup crumbs)
3-1/2 ounces (3/4 cup) blanched almonds (non-blanched work fine, too)
2 teaspoons rosemary leaves
3/4 cup sugar

Grated zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup olive oil
4 local, free-range eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

For the syrup:

Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 sprigs rosemary

Butter bottom and sides of an 8-1/2 inch springform pan. I think you could also use an 8-inch square Pyrex pan, or similar cake pan, if you butter it generously, flour it as well, and run a knife around the edge of the pan when releasing the baked cake.

In food processor, grind bread, almonds and rosemary as finely as possible. Add sugar, lemon zest, olive oil and eggs, and pulse as briefly as possible, just to blend. Add baking powder and pulse very briefly, just until until baking powder is incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan, put into a cold oven and turn oven on to 350 degrees. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until cake is brown and a toothpick inserted int he center comes out clean. Cool cake for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate.

While cake is baking, make syrup. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Turn heat up and boil syrup for 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Leave rosemary in to infuse.

Pierce holes in the warm cake, and pour the syrup evenly over. Serve with berries, other fruit, yogurt, ice cream, or any other accompaniments that strike your fancy.

Makes 8 servings.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Trifle

Here again is a simple yet brilliant culinary tradition brought to us by the British. What could be a more perfect way to showcase fresh, seasonal fruits than to loosely combine them in a delightful muddle of sponge cake, custard and whipped cream? If you don't have a trifle dish, use another pretty dish, or make individual trifles in glasses or parfait dishes.

The variations on the basic trifle are endless, which merely reaffirms its status as a truly classic recipe. All of its components can be changed to suit what you have on hand. Use almost any fruits, or use jam. The cake can be chocolate or any other flavor, or use ladyfingers or other cookies. (Just don't use Twinkies, you hear?) The custard layer soaks into the cake, so you can use other sauces and puddings to your heart's content.

A lovely way to celebrate a Mom who is the cream of the crop, as mine truly is.

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STRAWBERRY AND RHUBARB TRIFLE

3 pints fresh strawberries, trimmed and either left whole or sliced

Some fresh rhubarb that you have washed, trimmed and cooked with a little water and sweetener of your choice (I used agave syrup)

1 recipe Creme Anglaise from Joy of Cooking, or any custard sauce recipe you like; you'll need about 2 cups.

1 8-inch square (or 13- x 9-inch) sponge cake (or any firm cake) from your favorite recipe, cooled and cut into approximately 1-inch cubes

1 cup lightly toasted sliced almonds

1 to 2 cups whipping cream, whipped and lightly sweetened if you wish

Spread a little rhubarb in the bottom of the trifle bowl. Top with half the cake cubes. Pour half of the Creme Anglaise evenly over the cubes. Arrange half the strawberries over that, and spread a generous layer of rhubarb over them. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the almonds over the rhubarb. Add the remaining cake cubes, pour the rest of the Creme Anglaise over them, and arrange remaining strawberries on top. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve, up to a few hours.

Spread whipped cream evenly over top of trifle and scatter remaining 1/2 cup almonds over. Serve onto plates or into bowls. I used a wedge-shaped flat pie server to cut vertically down into the trifle like a pie, and lifted out roughly wedge-shaped, gloppy servings. But a big spoon would work too.

This dish served 6 people, with almost universal second helpings, with about 4 servings left over. Remember that you can size this dish smaller quite easily!

"Bye-Bye Winter" Pie

At 5:00 p.m., I was sluggishly resigned to sauteeing my gorgeous CSA spinach with garlic ... but it sounded SO boring. Then I remembered a Greek Greens pie recipe, got out that lovely swath of chives, the parsley, spinach and onions, all from the CSA box, and galloped down the very green path of creative culinary abandon. At 6:45 we dug into the yummiest spinach dish ever.

Once again, a true winner ... one for the three-ring notebook of awesome recipes.

You can use any top crust you like, even filo dough or puff pastry, if you don't want to make your own.

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"BYE-BYE WINTER" PIE
Adapted from Ready When You Are by Martha Shulman

One recipe (though you'll only use half) coconut or butter pastry (recipe below)

1 tablespoon olive oil
A clutch of CSA green onions, with tops, sliced
1 pound CSA spinach, washed, drained but not spun, lightly chopped down with kitchen shears
1/4 cup dried or 1/2 cup fresh dill
1 cup chopped CSA parsley
1 cup chopped CSA chives
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Fresh nutmeg

4 local eggs
1-1/2 cups feta cheese, crumbled (or less to taste; I'd use 3/4 cup next time)

Make pastry and set it in a cool place. Oil a 10-inch Pyrex pie dish or equivalent.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet that has a lid. Toss in the onions, stir, and saute for a minute or so. Add the spinach, cover and cook for several minutes or until the spinach has decreased in volume. Stir, then throw in the dill, parsley, chives and garlic. Sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Then grate a few poofs of fresh nutmeg (about 1/4 teaspoon) over all, and stir. Cover and cook for a few minutes, then turn heat off, uncover, and set aside to cool slightly. This would also be a good time to make the pastry.

In large bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in semi-cooled spinach mixture and the feta cheese. Mix well and pour into oiled pie dish.

Roll 1/2 the pastry to just a bit larger than your dish, place over top of pie and either crimp or tuck edges under. Slash for venting. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and top of pie is golden. Cut into wedges and serve.

If reheating and you wish the pastry to be crisp, heat pie in the oven.

Freeze the other half of the pastry for later creative cooking!

Makes 6 generous servings.

PASTRY CRUST
Adapted from several I found online. The pie's original crust recipe used standard butter pastry.

3/4 cup regular flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sucanat or sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt, heaping a bit
6 tablespoons cold butter OR coconut oil (if using coconut oil, measured it out at room temperature)
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
3-5 tablespoons ice water

In small bowl, mix all dry ingredients well. Cut in the butter or coconut oil with a pastry blender 'til shortening is in pieces no larger than peas, then add the water a tablespoon at a time, with the vinegar, mixing with a fork until dough holds together like traditional pastry dough. Gather into a ball.

Leek, Pear and Goat Cheese Tart

Ever since making Onion, Apple and Goat Cheese Tart, the variation with leeks and pears has been on my mind. It is just as good as the apple/onion version. If forced to choose which is better, I honestly could not. They're both wonderful.

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LEEK, PEAR AND GOAT CHEESE TART

This recipe with the following replacements:

2 slightly underripe Bosc pears, for the apples
2 large or 4 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced 1/4-inch thick, for the onion (about 4 cups raw sliced leeks)
Increase thyme from 1 teaspoon to 2 teaspoons

Bean, Barley and Salmon Bake

Once I blurted out about a dish, "And it's vegetarian except for the meat!" Of course I have never been allowed to forget that.

This casserole turns out to be quite satisfying and tasty. Remember when cooking your beans and barley, that they won't cook much further in this casserole, so make sure they're done to a texture you like.

When sorting beans, I've found that a white plate works really well. Tip a single layer of beans onto the plate and pick out any rocks or broken beans, then tip into a rice washer. I use my rice washer all the time; it rarely makes it into a cupboard. It's great for rinsing lentils, berries, beans, cherries, cherry tomatoes ... and generally for holding chopped vegetables waiting to go into soups or stews.

Soaking beans overnight in cold water, then rinsing and draining, and cooking them in fresh water, will preserve the skins and the beans' shapes the best, and renders them maximally digestible. Fast heating will split the skins and they'll separate from the bean, unless you've presoaked.

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BEAN, BARLEY AND SALMON BAKE
Adapted from this recipe

2 cups cooked CSA beans (7-bean mix)
2 cups cooked CSA pearl barley
2 6-ounce cans wild salmon, drained
1-1/2 cups shredded goat cheddar (smoked goat gouda adds a nice flavor, too) or cheddar cheese
1 cup diced CSA red onion

1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt

Chopped parsley, green onions, or other greenery

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine beans, barley, salmon, onion, and 1 cup of the cheese.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk thoroughly the egg, milk, lemon juice, dill, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and salt.

Stir egg mixture into the bean mixture, and pour into an oiled or buttered 3-quart casserole. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top and bake 40 to 50 minutes or until cooked through. Scatter some parsley across the top before serving.

Serve with fresh CSA Cameo apples and yesterday's muffins!

To cook presoaked beans: I cooked 4 cups of the CSA beans, used 2 cups in this recipe and froze the rest for soups. Place presoaked, rinsed and drained beans in a pot and fill with water to 2 inches above the beans. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer about 45 minutes to an hour, or until beans are soft. The texture of the beans when you stop cooking will be the texture of the beans in the finished casserole.

To cook pearl barley: For this casserole, place 2/3 cup rinsed and drained barley in a pot with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook about 30 minutes or until barley is tender. Texture of the barley when you stop cooking will be the texture of the barley in the finished casserole. You should end up with about 2 cups of cooked barley.

Smoky Barley-Corn Thyme Muffins

I've been looking at the seven-bean mix and the pearl barley for some days now. What should it be? Bean and Barley Soup? Barley and Bean Salad with Red Onion? Barley Risotto with Indian spices and dried fruit? Should I grind the barley into flour and make bread or muffins? I chewed a few grains of the barley, and they were nutty and mellow.

Today I needed to bake. You know? Sometimes all the modern-day angst about carbs just needs to take a back seat. So, instead of making a vegetable-laden, light and modified recipe designed for health, I made these smoky, savory, satisfying muffins.

You could go in a lot of different directions with these: different flours, herbs, nuts, seeds, cheeses ... in fact, I modified the original recipe pretty heavily to do just that.

The original recipe called for 1-1/2 cups buttermilk; I never have that around, so used a combination of yogurt and milk instead.
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SMOKY BARLEY-CORN THYME MUFFINS
Adapted from Whole Grains Every Day by Lorna Sass

2/3 cup barley flour (grind 1/2 cup CSA barley in a blade coffee grinder for a couple of minutes)
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 cup regular flour
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 tablespoon sucanat or brown sugar (or use honey in the wet ingredients)
1/2 cup grated smoked goat gouda cheese

2 large, local eggs
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup olive oil

Butter a 12-muffin tin. You can use paper cups, but I have found that taking the time to butter the tin gives you nice, crusty muffin sides, and they come out easier.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In large bowl, combine dry ingredients, then stir in cheese. In a smaller bowl, beat together wet ingredients well. Quickly stir the wet ingredients into the dry, just until mixed, then spoon into muffin tin.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and let set for a couple of minutes, then twirl the muffins up and lay them sideways in the tin to cool.

Squash Custard with Cranberries, Walnuts & Ginger

You know how when you watched the movie Titanic, you found yourself thinking, "maybe it won't sink this time." Even though I knew better than to leave the big Hubbard-y CSA squash in the garage, I did it anyway, thinking somehow the laws of thermodynamics would alter themselves just this one time. But the temperature got so low that the squash froze. I asked my parents if it was okay to quickly cook squash that had frozen, but they weren't sure. I called the County Extension office, but no food people were around.

Sometimes, you just gotta do what seems right. So I hacked off the most frozen parts, cut the rind off the lesser-frozen parts, and microwaved the resulting cubes. Ice crystals in the squash turned into water, so I had to drain the cooked squash. The CSA acorn squash (which I had brought inside) was roasted halved. I was rewarded with a lovely yellow-gold squashy mash. Each squash had a distinct taste; the Hubbard-y one was mild and cool, and the acorn was intense and earthy. I decided to combine them for an ethereal custard.

I wanted to try molasses instead of sugar, but was interested in preserving the beautiful color ... this is SQUASH, not pumpkin, and its appearance should say so. The custard mix was kind of thick, so I tested a cranberry on top and it didn't sink, so I figured a little topping of nuts, ginger and cranberry would lift this into another realm.

Libby's, step aside. Squash just may be the new pumpkin.

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SQUASH CUSTARD WITH CRANBERRIES, WALNUTS & GINGER

2 1/2 cups cooked CSA squash
1/4 cup organic sugar or sucanat
1/4 cup agave syrup
3/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 local eggs
1 cup organic milk
3/4 cup organic half-n-half

Topping:
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
2 tablespoons candied ginger
2 tablespoons local walnuts

In blender, combine custard ingredients until smooth. Pour into buttered, shallow 3-quart casserole.

In small food processor, chop ginger pieces until about the size of peas. Add cranberries and chop, then add walnuts and chop. The mixture pieces should be approximately the same size. Sprinkle over top of custard.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and 15 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.