Fall 2022 Recipes and Pairings

We also put together a 6 pack just in time for your thanksgiving table. 'from our table to yours', I put this pack together to have something for everyone and some fun recipes with pairing ideas for that special holiday meal.

chicken liver mousse - from Chef Cook

1# cleaned, fresh BTF chicken livers
12oz butter
2 boiled eggs
2 medium onions, small dice
2 clove garlic smashed and minced
Whatever booze is around be it champagne or bourbon
3 3/4 tsp salt
1-2 tsp black pepper
thyme and parsley

This 'recipe' is from Chef Rick Cook. Rick is a very talented chef and baker; he also came out and worked harvest with us two years ago and made some amazing food while he was here! This is his recipe from my pasture raised chicken livers, that I now make every year!

Using a sauté pan on medium high heat, lightly cook the livers (seasoned with salt, and a lot of black pepper) in a bit of oil until medium done. Remove the livers and set aside. Reduce the heat and add the thyme, onion and garlic and cook until sweet. Deglaze with whatever booze is nearby. Cook until alcohol taste is about gone and the sauté is mostly dry. Remove and let cool.

The rest is assembled in a food processor. Add cooked onion mix, eggs and chilled/room temp liver. Pulse until chunky smooth, and add chunks of

room temp butter, tasting along the way for salt. When finished, this can be consumed immediately or reserved for next day in the fridge.

butternut squash soup

The last of late summer's corn, cooked so it still has a light crunch, accents this silky squash soup. I use a rich homemade chicken broth, but store-bought works too. Roasting the butternut squash with honey and a touch of salt intensifies the natural sweetness of the squash and caramelizes the honey. Take time browning the onions; cooking them low and slow deepens the foundational flavor of this hearty soup.

1 large butternut squash (about 3 lbs)
About 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 tbsp honey
3 medium onions, chopped
Peeled cloves from 1 garlic head
1/2 cup salted butter
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves
5 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 to 2 qts reduced-sodium chicken broth
About 1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 cups corn kernels (cut from 3 or 4 ears)
1/2 cup (4 oz) crème fraîche or sour cream
2 tbsp finely sliced flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Split squash lengthwise and scrape clean. Set cut side up in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Score flesh on each half four times in a crisscross (so juices absorb). Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and spread with honey. Roast until tender when pierced, about 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally with juices. Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, cook onions and garlic in butter, stirring occasionally, until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Add sage and carrots; cook, stirring, about 5 minutes more. Scrape squash from shells into onion mixture and add 1 1/2 qts broth. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer until carrots are very tender when pierced, about 30 minutes. Purée soup with immersion blender until smooth. Return to pot and stir in remaining 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, the pepper, and nutmeg.

Add corn; heat soup over medium heat, stirring a few times, until corn is tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Thin with 1 to 2 cups more broth if you like. Ladle into bowls. Top with a spoonful of crème fraîche, a little paprika, and parsley.

oven roasted beets with bacon and garlic

Beets are ridiculously good with bacon. There’s lots of garlic, but it candies and mellows in the bacon fat. I have won over many ‘non-beet-eaters’ with this dish.

10 medium beets (half red and half golden, 3 lbs total), peeled and ends trimmed
1 lb applewood-smoked slab bacon (remove any rind) or thick-cut sliced bacon
Peeled cloves from 3 garlic heads
1 tbsp olive oil
1⁄2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F . Quarter beets lengthwise. Slice half lengthwise and half crosswise into wedges about 3/4 inch thick. Cut slab bacon into 1/2-inch cubes, sliced bacon into 1 1/2-inch pieces.

In a shallow 3- to 3 1/2-qt baking dish, toss beets, bacon, garlic,

oil, and salt.

Bake, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until beets are tender when pierced and bacon begins to brown, 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours.

sage butter potatoes

3 pounds thin-skinned potatoes (2 to 3 inches long), such as German Butterball or Yukon Gold, unpeeled
1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup fresh sage leaves

Bring potatoes to a boil in a large covered pot of salted water. Reduce heat and simmer until tender when pierced, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, return to pot, and stir to break up coarsely.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook butter and sage together, stirring often, until butter turns golden brown and sage is crisp but not dark, 10 to 12 minutes.

Pour three-quarters of sage mixture into potatoes and stir enough to loosely blend in butter. Transfer to a shallow bowl and drizzle with remaining sage mixture, serve right away.

Brian’s no kneed bread

the winemaker's well loved bread... he's been making is for over 17 years - it's so easy no kneed -- just mix night before : )

1-1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (about 1-1/2 packets)
1-1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6-1/2 cups unbleached flour, plus extra for dusting (we use Bob's Red Mill) a little cornmeal

1. Mix salt and flour in a large pot. in a second container mix yeast and 3 cups of water lukewarm (about 115 degrees). Stir yeast mixture into flour, mixing until mixture is uniformly moist with no dry patches. Do not knead. Dough will be wet /sticky. Cover.

2. Let dough rise at room temperature, at least 2 hours and up to overnight. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks; refrigerated dough is easier to work with than room-temperature dough, the authors recommend that first-time bakers refrigerate dough overnight or at least 3 hours.)

3. When ready to bake, sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel. Place a broiler pan on bottom rack of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and preheat oven to 450 degrees, preheating baking stone for at least 20 minutes.

4. Sprinkle a little flour on dough and on your hands. Pull dough up and, using a sharp knife, cut off a grapefruit-size piece (about 1 pound). Working for 30 to 60 seconds (and adding flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to hands; most dusting flour will fall off, it's not intended to be incorporated into dough), turn dough in hands, gently stretching surface of dough, rotating ball a quarter-turn as you go, creating a rounded top and a bunched bottom. You can also make a long baguette shape.

5. Place shaped dough on prepared pizza peel and let rest, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it in lidded container. (Even one day's storage improves flavor and texture of bread. Dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in airtight containers and defrosted overnight in refrigerator prior to baking day.) Dust dough with flour.

Using a sharp knife, slash top of dough in three parallel, 1/4-inch deep cuts (or one long one for a baguette). Slide dough onto preheated baking stone. Pour 1 cup hot tap water into broiler pan and quickly close oven door to trap steam. (NO PEEKING early on!! it will let out steam) Bake until crust is well-browned and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack and cool completely.

it isn’t fall without apple pie

As summer rolls on, the apple trees start their long and generous gifting to us. The first apples that fall to the ground are the ones the trees naturally cull. Those go to the pigs and a few to the cows. As fall progresses, there is a huge abundance of apples from the dozens of heritage trees around the farm. These trees range in age with most being the same vintage as our farmhouse built in 1890. The lard crust from the winter issue, with a tablespoon of sugar added, is my go-to crust for this pie.

For the filling
7 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp butter

Lard Crust

2.5 cup Flour
1/2 cup lard (cold)
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (for sweet pies)
5 Tbsp ice water

In a bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in lard and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in water, a tablespoon at a time, until pastry holds together. Shape into a disc; chill for an hour. On a lightly floured surface (tip - I like to roll onto parchment for easy transfer to pie dish), roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Transfer to pie plate. Flute edges; fill and bake.