Blue House Farm

Mercado Kitchen: Valentina’s Veggie Medley

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Mission Community Market in Blog, Blue House Farm, Far West Fungi, Mercado Kitchen, Moua's Farm, Recipes | Leave a comment

We often think that the Winter months bring us a lack of variety in the kitchen. How do we make our meals fun and interesting and into something delectable we want to eat? The answer is simple. Vegetables.

California’s bounty is incomparable and not to be taken for granted. From a variety of greens to colorful root vegetables, we still have a lot of produce options before spring rolls around. Don’t get discouraged. Focus on finding amazing fresh ingredients (found at your local farmers’ market) and the meal practically makes itself. Here is a veggie medley inspiration for you. Modify as you like!

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This meal was made in 3 parts. Makes 3-5 servings, depending on how hungry you are!

Prep Time: 30 mins. Cook Time: 1 hour.

Root Medley

  • 1 Bunch Golden Beets
  • 1 Bunch Red Beets
  • 1 Bunch Carrots
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt + Pepper
  • Red Pepper Flakes
  • Lemon Zest

Cut off Beet greens and put aside for Sautée (later). Cube beets and carrots to similar size. Mix in bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and lemon zest. Spread evenly on cooking sheet. Bake in Oven at 365° F for 45-50 mins.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

  • 3-4 Cups of Brussel Spouts
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt + Pepper
  • Red Pepper Flakes
  • Lemon Zest
  • 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast or Parmesan Cheese

Clean and chop Brussel sprouts in half, if desired. I find it absorbs more flavor when they are chopped in half but usually just chop the bigger brussels. Mix in bowl with olive oil, salt, peeper, red pepper flakes and lemon zest. Spread evenly in cooking pan. Sprinkle nutritional yeast/ parmesan cheese on top. Cover in aluminum foil and poke a few holes in foil for ventilation. Cook covered in oven at 365°F for 30 mins. Uncover, stir it up a bit and cook for another 30 mins! Yum.

Beet Green Sautée

  • Beet Greens from your 2 Bunches of Beets
  • 1/2 Cup Pine Nuts (Or Walnuts)
  • 1-2 Cups of Shitake Mushrooms
  • 1 Medium Onion
  • 3 Cloves Garlic
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt + Pepper

Sautée can be done while everything else bakes! Yay for time-saving.

Chop up onion and garlic and start the sautée with Olive oil on Medium heat. Add Shitake Mushrooms and pine nuts and let cook about 5-7 minutes. Chop up beet greens and add to your sautée. They cook down a lot! Add your salt, pepper and other herbs you like to taste! Cook ’til beet greens have cooked down a bit but are not soggy (about 5-8 minutes more).

Now that you have your three components, add them in equal parts on top of rice or lentils. And enjoy! 

 

 

Mercado Kitchen: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Mission Community Market in Bisou Chocolate, Blog, Blue House Farm, Mercado Kitchen, Recipes | Leave a comment

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Anna of Three Babes Bakeshop

pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies

 

For the pumpkin puree:

1 small sugar pumpkin, or other culinary pumpkin from Blue House Farm

Heat the oven to 350ºF. Remove the stem from the pumpkin, cut in half, and scrape out the insides.

Lay the two sides cut-side down on a rimmed baking sheet or in a large baking dish, and add just enough water to the dish to submerge the pumpkin in about ¼-1/2 inch of water, depending on what your pan will hold.

Bake until fork tender, about 1 hour, checking occasionally, and adding more water as needed. Let cool.

Scoop the pulp from the roasted pumpkin and puree in a food processor or blender until smooth. You will have more than enough for this recipe, so use for more cookies, or freezer and use later for pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, or pumpkin pie!

 

For cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, or two sticks, softened

½ cup sugar

¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkin!

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups chopped dark chocolate, or semisweet chocolate chips

 

Heat the oven to 350ºF. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Beat the butter until smooth using a standup mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or simply in a bowl with a whisk. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.

Separately, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chocolate by hand.

Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges.

Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

 

Yield: Approx. 60 cookies

Mercado Kitchen: Tortilla de Patatas (Spanish Omelette)

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Jeremy in Blog, Blue House Farm, Great Valley Poultry, Happy Boy Farms, Mercado Kitchen, Recipes | Leave a comment

After last week’s gazpacho recipe, I thought I’d share another one of my favorite dishes I came across when I lived in Barcelona. Tortilla de patatas is a staple in Spanish households and perhaps one of the best-known Spanish dishes.

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Locals eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner and every self-respecting tapas bar has it in its repertoire. It’s incredibly easy to prepare with only 3 main ingredients: potatoes, eggs, and onion.

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You can eat it warm or cold, serve alongside some castelvetrano olives or a fresh bagel.DSC05493

Ingredients

  • 5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 5 eggs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4+2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

  1. Mix together diced potatoes and onion in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and add the potato-onion mixture.
  3. Cook, turning occasionally, over medium heat until potatoes are soft.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt.
  5. Add the cooked potato-onion mixture to the eggs, and stir to coat evenly.
  6. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the egg-coated potatoes to the skillet, spreading them evenly to cover the base of the pan.
  7. Once the mixture is half set (you can test this by shaking the skillet), cover the skillet with a large  plate and flip the tortilla onto it. Then, slide the tortilla back into the pan with the uncooked side facing down.
  8. Cook until the second half of the mixture sets as well.
  9. Allow it to cool slightly, then cut into wedges and serve.

 

*Eggs from Great Valley Poultry, potatoes from Happy Boy Farms, onions from Blue House Farms, optional olives from Home Maid Ravioli, optional bagels from Marla Bakery.

Mercado Kitchen: Traditional Gazpacho

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Jeremy in Blog, Blue House Farm, Happy Boy Farms, Mercado Kitchen, Moua's Farm, Recipes | Leave a comment

Surprise! I have another tomato-based recipe for you! Gotta take advantage of the season while you can; am I right?

Gazpacho is a cold soup made of raw fruits and vegetables originating from Spain. This recipe is very close to my heart because I got it from my wonderful Catalan host family when I traveled to Barcelona a few years ago. It’s a staple in Spain, so much so that I’ve spotted people drinking canned gazpacho on the subway many times during the hot summer months.

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It’s such an easy dish and can be made ahead of time – in fact, it’s even better the next day. Take it to work in a Mason jar or sip on it at your weekend picnic.

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Ingredients

  • 2 lbs ripe tomatoes (about 10-12 medium tomatoes)
  • 1/2 small green bell pepper (you can use Anaheim pepper if you want to add a little kick to it)
  • 1/2 small cucumber
  • 1/2 small onion
  • 1 tbsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 4.4 oz extra virgin, cold-pressed olive oil
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1/4 cup of water (more, if need to adjust consistency)
  • 1 clove of garlic

Directions

  1. Peel cucumber.
  2. Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend for 2 ½ minutes.
  3. Strain through a sieve and add more water if you need to thin it out.
  4. Serve cold.

Mercado Kitchen: Bruschetta

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Jeremy in Blog, Blue House Farm, Marla Bakery, Mercado Kitchen, Moua's Farm, Recipes, Tomatero Farm | Leave a comment

I am admittedly a tomato fanatic and I can honestly say that there are very few things that I look forward to more about summer than ripe tomatoes. Every week I fill my basket with at least a couple pounds of beautifully colored, sweet, juicy tomatoes. But even so, they only last a few days in my household. I just can’t help myself.

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Today I’m going to share my go-to bruschetta recipe which is one of my favorite tomato recipes. If you have seen the movie Julie & Julia, you might remember that one of the many mouthwatering cooking scenes involves Julie preparing this dish – which is what gave me the inspiration to make it the first time.

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The more colorful tomatoes you use the better. I also like to add some cherry tomatoes in order to have a variety of textures.

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While you could just stick the bread slices in the toaster, toasting them on butter puts this dish over the top.
DSC04949This is a very quick and easy recipe and I hope you’ll give it a try!

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This recipe was adapted from The Pioneer Woman‘s website:

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
  • 5 heirloom tomatoes, diced
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 16 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 baguette/ciabatta
  • 3-4 tablespoons Butter

Preparation

In a small skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir, lightly frying for about a minute, removing before the garlic gets too brown. Pour into a mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.

Add tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Toss to combine, taste and adjust basil and salt to your liking.

Cut the baguette into diagonal slices to allow for the most surface area possible. Melt the butter in a large skillet with 2 teaspoons of olive oil to prevent the butter from burning. Grill the bread on both sides, making sure they’re nice and buttery. Cook till golden brown on both sides.

To serve, give the tomato mixture a final stir and spoon generously over the slices of bread. While this dish works wonderfully as an appetizer, I often make it the main course of my meal. Happy cooking!

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