Farm Feast

Yesterday was MLK day (better known as “Milk Day” in our house. Mommy did not have to work as a result, so we had a family day. Of course we got some farm work done, and we will share that out in separate posts to… milk…. it for all its worth.

But the highlight of the day was our farm feast.

Georgia Candy Roaster; half was steamed and mashed, yielding about three cups of mash. One cup and a little over went into the pie filling. The rest we just added butter and served.

These Candy Roasters have been sitting in the “conservatory” at the farm Since November, and they have ripened beautifully in that time. The skins are firm, with a clean, brisk “scriiiiiiitch” when peeled, revealing orange to golden flesh underneath. The pulp scrapes moderately easily, somewhat more tightly attached than when fresh. Most surprising of all, the flesh, when raw, has a much stronger and more nuanced smell than when fresh. Kathleen and I both detected strong notes of cantaloupe in the overall smell. I think it is amazing with nothing but butter, Kathleen wanted to add nutmeg. We will try that next time.

The other half of the squash is wrapped with plastic in the refrigerator. We will probably filled it with something and roast it later on this week.

Of course there was also meat.

A bone-in shoulder roast from our Meishan pigs. Rubbed with salt, pepper and garlic powder, seared in hot oven at 500 degrees for fifteen minute, then cooled to 300 and roasted until internal temp of 145 at the thickest part, about 30-35 minutes per pound.

We finally got to using up the leftover parsnip and one of the leftover rutabagas from last weekend, to make this delightful variation on the classic scalloped potatoes. Kathleen layered scallops of parsnip, rutabaga and potato with cheese, and then drenched it all in cream and egg wash. She adds spices, and such, but I don’t know what they are, you’ll have to ask her next time you see her. This gets baked at 350 degrees until the cream/egg mixture is fully set. This always takes longer than you think it should. Start this dish at least 3 hours before you plan on eating. It also feeds a bunch of people.

I suppose everyone has had scalloped potatoes and ham before. It certainly was a staple in my low budget childhood, and, perhaps as a consequence, I am not terribly fond of potatoes. I will eat them, but I like them jazzed up with something. By themselves they are a bit bland.

Of course the marriage of potato and milk, cream, butter and cheese is legen-dairy, as has been sung by ancient bard since Sir Walter Raleigh first got his propaganda department on it. Potato and pig is also a classic culinary combo.

In this case, we omitted the ham, and relied on the variety of roots with the cream sauce to coax the humble dirt-apple into revealing its hidden glory, and we were not disappointed. The parsnips added a delightfully nutty texture and flavor while the rutabagas added their incomparable purple-green flavor, under the creaminess of the sauce…

Mwhaah!

We have decided to call it “Deeper’n’Ever Turnip’n’tater pie.” Or, since that is probably copyrighted, we may just use Ellie’s somewhat disparaging moniker, “Mole Food.”

But the piece of resistance, as they say, was the rich squash pie from Fannie Merritt Farmer’s Boston School of Cooking cookbook.

This one has officially been dubbed a keeper. I will say that when it is described as a “rich” squash pie, Mrs. Farmer ain’t lying. It was the first time I have ever come across a pumpkin pie and didn’t want to eat half of it in one sitting, not because it was not delicious, but because it was so filling.

Alas, you’ll have to wonder what is in it.

Maybe if you join us for Lord’s day one of these weeks (when we aren’t sick) you’ll get to try it.