Cheryl Wixson's Kitchen

Root Cellar Visit March 18

I have been on the road again for just a little over a week, and the weather has been glorious. So glorious and warm, that I have concerns about the temperature of my root cellar. When I returned to the hill, my sweet husband went down to check. Our days have been consistently in the 50 – 60 degree range, and nights have not dropped below freezing. This may herald an early spring, but is quite warm for March, and worrisome for us who still have in storage 3 months supply of food.

The cold part of the cellar, where I store the apples, was at 40 degrees. The warmer part, where I store the potatoes, oil and maple syrup was 44 degrees. Not bad, and holding up nicely. As roots starts to warm-up, they think its time to grow, so tiny leaves appear on the beets and rutabegas and sprouts on the potatoes….some, but not many yet. We have an air-conditioner in the cellar that we are trying to use as a cool-bot, so turned that on. Managed to get the temperature down a bit, but then the condenser froze. PMM will play with that later in the week-end.

Apples are rapidly becoming softer. Task will be to sort them soon, process what I can into sauce, and feed the culls to the rabbits.

Beets have some tiny leaves, but still are quite firm and tasty. I roasted 2 for supper, peeled them, cut into cubes and tossed with sunflower oil. so much oil they really were poached. 400 degree oven. When they were done, drained the oil, tossed with sea salt, feta, and a bit of chopped fresh cilantro.

Upstairs, the 3 remaining pumpkins needed processing, as they were developing black spots and going soft. These are the long, one-pie variety. Cut them into wedges, peeled them and removed the seeds (rabbits really make out this time of year.) Added just a bit of water to cover the bottom of the pot and simmered them on top of the wood stove for several hours. I’m not sure I’ve ever cooked this variety of pumpkin like this, usually roast it in the oven. It was delicous! silky, smooth, wonderful flavor. Made a pumpkin souffle for supper and froze the remaining.

3 pumpkins yielded 3 – 1 cup jars, 1 – 2 cup jar, 3 – 1 3/4 cup jars. The varying amounts are specific for certain recipes. One cup of cooked pumpkin makes a batch of pumpkin waffles, or a pumpkin souffle. 1 3/4 cup of cooked pumpkin is about the same as a commercially available 19 ounce can of pumpkin, and makes a pie or a batch of pumpkin snack cakes.

Our local, seasonal, organic supper was:

Pumpkin souffle
Roasted beets tossed with Sunset Acres FArm feta
Russell’s chicken breast grilled with tomato salsa
Baked apple with maple syrup and heavy cream

We have quite a collection of apples, and for supper we sampled 2 different ones: Barbour Farm Tree # 8 and Liberty. I quartered the apples and cored them. In a custard cup, placed 1/2 of each variety and spooned in 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Baked until apples were soft, and served topped with 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Simply delicous! Plus we were able to compare the different tastes and textures of the 2 varieties. Barbour FArm Tree #8 was much better as a baked apple…the Liberty would be better in a pie.

Diane’s Birthday Cake Lemon Blueberry Cake

So, March is the month of birthdays. At the office, we take turns making a cake for each other, and this year, I got to make a cake for Diane.

Diane is our livestock person…what she doesn’t know about critters she will find out, and I have been fortunate to learn a great deal about humane, organic livestock management…in particular, with my rabbits. More on that later.

Diane is not an extravagant person, and appreciates little luxuries like the lemons my aunt ships from California, which I always share with her. So for her birthday this year, I decided to make a lemon chiffon cake with a blueberry whipped cream frosting. Lots of eggs and jersey cream!

The recipe for the lemon chiffon cake came from the Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum…she calls it a Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of egg yolks and 1 1/4 cups of egg whites…no problem as the girls at Quill’s End Farm are laying up a storm and I had plenty of eggs. The cake is baked in an angel cake type pan…the kind you invert over a bottle to cool. So, I painstakingly made this lovely cake, baked it, it was gorgeous, and left it on the counter overnight to cool.

The next morning I removed the cake from the pan and trimmed the edges, preparing to transport it to the office where I would frost it and serve at lunch.

Best made plans….when I went to pack up my files for the office, our shepherd was counter serfing. I was only out of the kitchen for a few minutes, but returned to see a black wagging tail and a half gone cake. Disaster! My husband decreed I needed to make a new cake…I wasn’t sure…thoughts of trimming off dog bites and slathering with whipped cream were in my mind.

I did not have any eggs remaining to make a new cake…just the extra yolks from making the Lemon Glow. Plus no sugar…and no butter in the house. The next day was the dairy delivery.

Frantically searching for some sort of a recipe, I settled on Sour Cream Butter Cake, also from the Cake Bible. Except, I substituted maple sugar for the cane sugar, used all my egg yoks, used yogurt instead of sour cream, and a combination of canola oil and butter. Also flavored the cake with lemon juice and lemon zest.

The result was a rather dense, heavy crumb version…but hey, it was a cake. We packed up to head to the office, picking up a pint of heavy cream at Quill’s on the way.

My frosting plan all along a blue-berry whipped cream. Highland Blueberry Farm makes a blueberry bark…a delicous dried blueberry , well, bark. I figured if I chopped it quite finely in the food processor and folded it into the whipped cream it would produce a light, delicate frosting.

Got to the work and put the cream in the bowl of the Kitchen aide mixer, starting to whip the cream, and gathered my other supplies. Somehow, I lost it…and the delicate whipped cream turned to butter. Oh well…it will still taste good. When I folded, well, couldn’t really fold…let’s say stirred in the bleuberry bark…it was a rather gloppy mess. split the cake in layers and filled with blueberries and slathered on the frosting. Birthday cake! A rather sorry sight…but the thought was there.

As my husband said…not my best effort.

Diane enjoyed it…and confided in me that she would have enjoyed the other cake also, regardless of the dog bites!

DIANE’S BIRTHDAY CAKE: LEMON BLUBERRY CAKE

5 large egg yolks
2/3 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup maple sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons soft butter
½ cup canola oil

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter and maple sugar. Add the egg yolks, canola oil and yogurt, lemon juice and lemon zest, beating well. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then add in batches to the liquids, beating well to aerate and develop the cake’s structure.
Spoon into pan and bake for about 45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack and remove from pan.

1 pint heavy cream
1 – 2 cups Maine wild blueberries
blueberry juice or finely ground blueberry bark

Whip the cream and fold in blueberry juice or bark, adding a bit of sugar if needed. To assemble the cake, split into 3 layers, fill the layers with cream and blueberries. Frost the cake with the remaining blueberry cream and decorate the top with blueberries.

Split the cake into layers and filled each layer with bluberries.

Birthday Cake

We are blessed with an abundant supply of local eggs from Quill’s End Farm…liquid sunshine is what Heather calls them. We call them breakfast, lunch and supper…enjoying them in so many ways, including our dogs, who each have one in their evening meal. When I start to get a surplus of egg whites, I like to make this Chocolate Angel Food cake.

CHOCOLATE ANGEL FOOD CAKE
(Adapted from a recipe in the Cake Bible)

1/3 cup Dutch unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup boiling water
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 cup sifted cake flour
16 large egg whites = 2 cups
2 teaspoons cream of tartar

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and boiling water until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla.

In another bowl, whisk together ¾ cup sugar and cake flour.

In the bowl of the mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites until frothy, add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks are formed. Gradually beat in the remaining one cup of sugar. Remove one cup of the egg white mixture to the cocoa mixture.

Gradually fold the flour into the beaten egg whites. Whisk together the cocoa with the egg whites, then fold into the batter. Pour the mixture into a tube pan. Run a small knife through the batter to remove any air pockets. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the cake springs back when lightly touched.

Invert the pan, placing the tube opening over the neck of a bottle and cool completely.

I make this cake and cut into pieces and freeze. So for my birthday cake, defrosted one chunk, split in half and filled with Currant Conserve (a very rich jam-like made with currants my friend Heather picked and organic honey) and slathered with whipped cream. This same preparation makes a wonderful whole birthday cake…if you don’t split in half and spread with a jam, try folding the jam into the whipped cream. Yum!

What do you do with the surplus egg yolks? There are so many uses, including sauces, Hollandaise, custard pie…but if you insist on knowing my sinful little secret, here it is.

CHOCOLAT POTS de CRÈME

2 cups light cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
6 egg yolks
2 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt (I usually omit)
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

Center the rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.

Place 1 ½ cups of the cream in a small, heavy saucepan over low heat. Place the remaining ½ cup cream and the chocolate in the top of a large double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. In a mixing bowl stir the egg yolks lightly to mix – do not beat until foamy.

When the cream has scalded, stir in the sugar and salt and remove from heat.

Stir the chocolate mixture with a small wire whisk until perfectly smooth. Off the heat, very gradually add the hot cream to the chocolate, stirring constantly to keep the mixture smooth. Then gradually stir in the egg yolks and stir in the vanilla.

Return the mixture to the heat in the double boiler and cook, stirring constantly with a rubber scraper for 3 minutes.

Pour the mixture through a fine strainer into a pitcher. Then pour into individual 1/2 cup souffle dishes; do not fill all the way. Place the cups in a shallow baking pan. Pour hot water to about half the depth of the cups. Place a cookie sheet over the top to cover the cups (or if you have used pot de crème cups, put their covers on)

Bake for 22 minutes. The usual test for baked custard is to insert a small, sharp knife halfway between the middle and the edge and when it comes out clean, they are done. However, with this recipe, if it comes out clean the pots are overdone. The custard will look soft, but it will become firmer as it chills. It is best if it is still creamy in the center when served.

Place on a rack to cool, then refrigerate a few hours. Makes six ½ cup servings. You don’t want to know the nutritional analysis.

Root Cellar check March 2

We have been traveling for 10 days, and my food has been patiently waiting for my return in the cellar. It was a time of “big snow” in parts of the state, and 6 inches of rain on the island that left no frost behind and lots of mud.

The celeraic are going fast, 2 went to the compost heap and 1 into chili. They will need to be processed and used. The red cabbage, thankfully, are holding up strong. As I have no green cabbages left, I hope they make it until later in the spring. Brought one up to enjoy in slaw and salads. The rutabegas are growing green leaves at their tops. The root itself is still quite firm and good. The temperature in the cellar has climbed to just around 40 degrees…this must signal to some roots that spring is on the way! Barbara Damrosch wrote that the leaves that grow on top of roots make a nice addition to the supper salad. Carrots and potatoes both look great…with no sprouts yet. Carrots have a few white “hairs”…nothing that can’t be scrubbed off.

The apples will take a separate trip to sort, as I like to open each tub and feel each apple. I know some are getting soft, and some are getting perfect to eat!

It’s a little early, but seems that at least here on the island spring is making an early showing…so…it must be breeding time. Bred my rabbits: Mary with Buster and Sammy with Betty. We’ll be checking around April 3 for the results.