Butternut Mushroom & Ricotta Tart—It’s What’s for Dinner!

Last week, I stopped by Keepsake Farm with a friend to pick up some eggs and cheese. I was pleasantly surprised when the guy covering the counter asked, “So what are you going to make this time? I love looking at your blog to see what you did with what you bought.” Someone recognized me who reads this blog!

Once I got over the giddiness of my first random recognition, I realized I had to make something truly excellent with the ricotta cheese I picked up that day. We recently discovered that Giorgio Mushrooms are grown within an hour of the Lehigh Valley and we picked up a pint of them on a whim. This isn’t the kind of farm we’ve been supporting for the past year, but we did research their practices and decided we’d purchase a container of them until our first order of very local Mother Earth mushrooms from Pure Sprouts arrive this weekend. Of course, three days after we purchased them, I saw that Jett’s Natural Produce had mushrooms for the first time all year! I guess they just weren’t in season before? (Never thought I’d actually feel a dilemma about where to get mushrooms. It felt weird to scan a package of produce.)

Anyway, we were glad to have the tasty fungi in our kitchen. (Funny thing, the fact that mushrooms are fungi freaked me out so much that I refused to eat them until last year. Now I love them!) Combined with a big ol’ butternut squash, some leafy kale, creamy ricotta and super simple crust, this tart (actually, a pie because I don’t have a tart pan) is something special enough to serve company.

Butternut, Mushroom & Ricotta Tart

Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 1 c. flour
• 5 T. butter, cold
• 3 T. cold water
• 1 red onion (Jett’s Natural Produce)
• 1.5 c. butternut squash (I diced & roasted a whole one so we’d have it for later) (from Jett’s Natural Produce)
• 4 cloves garlic (Apple Ridge Farm)
• 1 c. crimini mushrooms (Giorgio)
• olive oil for drizzling
• 4-6 kale leaves (Jett’s Natural Produce)
• 8 oz. ricotta cheese (Keepsake Farm)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Dice butternut squash, smash garlic, cut onions into wedges and quarter mushrooms.
3. Toss squash, garlic, onions and mushrooms in baking dish with olive oil.
4. Bake 30 minutes, or until squash is fork tender.
5. Meanwhile, cut slices of butter into flour in medium bowl using pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly.
6. Add water 1 T. at a time until dough binds together.
7. Press dough into bottom (and a little up the sides) of greased pie plate or tart pan.
8. Chop kale, removing thick stems.
9. Spread 3/4 of the ricotta onto crust.
10. Spread kale over ricotta.
11. When veggies are done roasting, reduce oven to 350° and evenly distribute them on top of kale.
12. Drop remaining ricotta on top by the tablespoonful.
13. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
    

    Rustic looking tart/pie fit for company! Meaty mushrooms, sweet squash, savory kale and creamy cheese make for the perfect balance.

Pumpkin Apple Goodness

Pumpkin. Apple. The two quintessential flavors for autumn and winter desserts of all kinds, especially pies, right? Inevitably, though, when you have a bunch of people gathered around, waiting for the pie to be unveiled after a spectacular meal, at least one is going to have a slight look of disappointment cross his or her face no matter which pie you reveal, if only for a moment. There always seems to be someone who prefers apple to pumpkin or vice-versa, even if they will eat both. So, next time it strikes your fancy to concoct a tasty fall dessert, please everyone by including pumpkin and apple in one dish! While you are at it, if you aren’t much for the precise measurements involved in a pie crust, leave it out! This dessert is so ridiculously easy and delicious.

Pumpkin Apple Goodness

Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 2 medium apples (Heritage Farms CSA)
• 3/4 c. flour (you could do an even split of white and wheat if you like)
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. butter (Flint Hill Farm)
• cinnamon, to taste
• nutmeg, to taste
• 1 c. pumpkin purée (made from a pumpkin from Heritage Farms CSA)
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. milk (Klein Farms)
• 1 egg (Valley View Farms)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Peel and dice apples (about 1/2 cubes).
3. Spread apples on bottom of 9″ pie plate and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp-tender.
4. Meanwhile, combine flour, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg in small bowl. Use a pastry blender, two forks or your finger tips to mix the topping until crumbly.
5. In another bowl, whisk pumpkin, sugar, milk, eggs and more nutmeg and cinnamon until smooth. (If you are feeling adventurous, add a dash of curry or garam masala here!)
6. Remove apples from oven and pour pumpkin mixture evenly on top.
7. Sprinkle crumb topping over pumpkin layer.
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until center is set. Let sit for 15-20 minutes before serving this plateful of fall!
   

   Warm and full of sugar & spice to please the apple and pumpkin fans!

A Farewell to Peaches

The end of peach season is approaching, which makes me inconsolably sad. I didn’t get to make peach küchen this year! I did get to share a piece of the creamy goodness from Karen’s Sweets with my husband, but it’s not the same. Don’t get me wrong, hers was delicious, but it didn’t fill my house with that late summer smell of peaches, cinnamon and custard that I look forward to each year. I also didn’t get to go pick my own bushels full of the juicy fuzzballs like I love to do. Next year, I promise to pay proper attention to my favorite fruit!

Before I ran out of peaches, though, I did get to make this homage to the peach. Run out and get some before they are all gone and mix up this pie! The rosemary will leave you speechless. My husband and sister-in-law almost ate all the topping before it was served!

Granola-Crusted Peach Pie with Rosemary Scented Crumbs

Ingredients:

filling & crust ingredients

crumb topping ingredients

• 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, divided
• 1 1/4 c. granola (Jumbars)
• 4 peaches (Bechdolt’s Orchard)
• 1/2 c. sugar, divided
• 1.5 oz. bourbon whiskey
• few tablespoons honey (Rush Apiaries)
• cinnamon to taste
• 1/2 c. flour
• sprig of rosemary (my garden)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Chop granola to coarse crumbs in food processor.
3. Melt 1/4 c. butter (half stick) and mix with granola crumbs.
4. Press granola mixture on bottom and up sides of pie plate.
5. Bake crust for 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, peel and slice peaches.
7. Mix with 1/4 c. sugar, bourbon, honey and cinnamon.
8. Fill crust with peaches.
   

   filled crust

9. Finely chop rosemary.
10. Using a pastry blender or two forks, combine remaining half stick of butter, 1/4 c. sugar, 1/2 c. flour, cinnamon and rosemary until mixture becomes crumbly.
11. Sprinkle crumb topping over peaches.
12. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until peaches are tender.
    

    I will never make another peach pie without rosemary.

Potato & Beet Crust Pie—It’s What’s For Dinner!

This recipe was born from one of those moments when I realized I had several ingredients I should really use up. Stuck in the house because of the weather last week, I was doing lots of cooking. I had a ton of beets and had purchased some apricot-jalepeño chicken sausage that looked delicious, but I had no clue what to do with it. I also had just come from Keepsake Farm, where I had purchased some garlic-herb jack and some of the freshest milk imaginable (bottled while I waited!). So, I decided to wing it, and the results were not only marvelously colorful, but tasty, too!

You could really fill this crust with anything, so use what you have on hand and get creative!

Potato & Beet Crust Pie

Ingredients:

Rustic Ingredients

• 4 med-small potatoes (these are purple ones from Apple Ridge Farm)
• 2 beets (Heritage Farms CSA)
• 1 T. olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 onion (Heritage Farms CSA)
• 1-2 cloves garlic (Heritage Farms CSA)
• 3 T. butter
• couple of tablespoons flour
• 1/8 c. milk (Keepsake Farm)
• 1 link sausage, approx 1/2 lb., cooked (this is Saylors & Co apricot-jalepeño chicken sausage)
• cheese, 1/4 c. shredded or equivalent (this is garlic herb jack from Keepsake Farm)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Thinly slice potatoes and beets, using a mandolin if you have one.
3. Arrange the potato and beet slices around a 9″ pie plate and brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
   

   Isn't it beautiful?

4. Bake 10 minutes or until just tender.
5. Meanwhile, thinly slice onion and garlic.
6. Sauté in butter, careful not to burn garlic, until onions are soft. Cook and slice sausage.
7. Reduce heat to low. Sprinkle flour into skillet with onion and garlic, stirring constantly, until paste-like consistency with butter.
8. Add milk, stirring constantly, and simmer until thickened.
9. Spread creamy onion mixture over potato-beet crust.
10. Top with sausage slices and cheese.
11. Bake 15 minutes or until cheese is golden.

Crisp crust edges, melty cheese, rich caramelized onions and sweet-spicy sausage.

We paired this with Vidal Blanc from Franklin Hill Vineyard.

The Stale Baked Good Predicament

My sister in-law works at a scrumdiddlyumptious vegan bakery, Vegan Treats, right down the road from our apartment. Occasionally, she will deliver some day old baked goods to us instead of throwing them away. Vegan Treats are so freaking yummy and ridiculously rich. The last batch we received was just too much to eat! I took some to work the next morning, my husband and I snarfed some down at home, but I still had a ton of donuts and a bun left over! Before we could eat them all or give them away, the tasty confections were stale. As I mentioned in the peach bourbon tea pops post, frugality is a way of life in this PA Dutch region. I couldn’t bring myself to throw away the goodies. So, recipe creation and baking ensued. I do feel awkward about adding eggs, milk & butter to vegan baked goods, but I am not vegan and I didn’t have the proper substitutes at the time. Sorry to the hardcore folks out there! I am sure they’d be tasty animal-product free, too!

Stale Baked Good Treat #1: Donut Bread Pudding
*For a vegan bread pudding recipe, click here. Just sub donuts for the bread!

Ingredients:

Add some less than fresh donuts, and you've got dessert to feed a crowd!

• 12 or so stale donuts (Any flavor will work. Mine were a mix of glazed, sugar, jelly, & chocolate cream)
• 3 cups whole milk (I used raw milk from Klein Farms)
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks (Save the whites for a tasty lunch scramble while this bakes!)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• dash salt
• cinnamon, to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the donuts into approximately 1-inch cubes and place in 9×13″ baking pan (grease if not non-stick).
2. Whisk together milk, eggs, and egg yolks.
3. Add sugar, vanilla, salt & cinnamon. Stir.
4. Pour milk & egg mixture evenly over donut cubes in pan.
5. Let sit for 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350°.
7. Bake bread pudding for 60-70 minutes.
8. Serve warm or cold. Store leftovers in fridge.
   

   Rich & Delicious!

    

Stale Baked Good Treat #2: Fruity Bun Pie
*To make these vegan in keeping with the vegan bun, just sub margarine for the butter!

Ingredients:

These ingredients (plus butter, a bit of sugar & cinnamon) are really flexible ... Use what you've got!

• 1 large less-than-fresh bun (this is a coconut bun, cinammon would work, too)
• 2 peaches (mine were a bit hard from being put in the fridge, no problem! I got mine at Bechdolt’s Orchard)
• 2 small plums (mine were a little over-ripe, again, no problem! From Pappy’s Orchard)
• 1 apple (mine is not local … leftover from road trip lunch at Panera)
• 2 T. butter
• sugar, to taste
• cinnamon, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
   
2. Slice the bun hamburger-style so you have two rounds.
3. Spread 1/2 T. of butter on each round and toast, cut side down, on a griddle or skillet until golden. Transfer to cookie sheet, cut side up.
4. Thinly slice the fruit (use a mandolin if you have it).
5. Arrange fruit slices on bun halves. (I also sprinkled some coconut that fell out of the bun on top)
6. Dot 1/2 T. of butter on top of each bun pie.
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
8. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until fruit is soft.
9. Serve warm.

Warm, fruity, buttery, delicious!