Farm Fresh Produce: What to do with it...

We had so much fun, we couldn’t stop picking and came away with about 30 pounds of apricots– of varying types which ranged from super sweet to brilliantly tart. We also picked a bushel or two of peaches, scads of eggplant, frying peppers, banana peppers, and some mild chilies. At the farm’s market, we found some hardneck, purple garlic and a few enormous zucchini and summer squash.

• 1 lb white mushrooms, chopped
• 2 large white or yellow onions, chopped
• 2 heads farm-fresh garlic, or about 12 cloves, minced fine
• 2 large carrots, finely chopped
• 3 cayenne chilies, finely minced
• 1 15 ounce can of tomato paste
• 3-4 large cans of crushed tomato, 32 ounce cans
• sugar, to taste
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• kosher salt, to taste
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried, rosemary, ground
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp herbs de Provence
• extra virgin olive oil for sauté
• ½ head of fresh parsley, chopped

1. Into a heavy-bottomed 10-12 quart pot, sauté the onion in a little extra virgin olive oil until slightly caramelized. About 10-15 minutes.
2. Add garlic, chili, and carrot. Sauté until translucent. Add mushroom, oregano, thyme, and herbs de Provence.
3. Add half the parsley, tomato, tomato paste, and balsamic vinegar. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Simmer on medium-low heat for 1 hour. Taste and adjust seasoning. If too acidic, add sugar to taste. If too sweet, add more salt and vinegar. Add remaining parsley. Simmer for another 30 minutes. Use this sauce for the stuffed pepper recipe. Freeze the rest for pizza, pasta, or whatever recipe you fancy.

• Several large zucchini and summer squash (I used 3, about 5-6 pounds of squash)
• flour, about 2-3 cups, *plus more if needed
• 4-6 eggs*
• 1 cup or kombucha or seltzer
• 2-3 tbsp hot sauce*
• 4-5 cups plain bread crumb*
• kosher salt, about 3 tsp*
• freshly cracked pepper
• dried oregano, about 3 tsp
• dried thyme, 2 tsp
• dried, rosemary, ground, 2 tsp
• herbs de Provence, 2 tbsp
• dried, ground garlic, 2 tbsp
• 1 tsp cumin, ground
• 1 tsp coriander, ground
• extra virgin olive oil, for frying
• 1-2lbs mozzarella, sliced

• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4-6 cups garden tomato sauce*
• 1 large container ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• ½ head parsley, chopped fine

1. Slice squash into ¼ inch thick rounds. Set aside
2. Season flour with 1 tsp salt, freshly cracked pepper, cumin, and coriander. Set aside in a wide shallow dish to flour the rounds of zucchini.
3. Crack 4 eggs into another shallow, wide dish. Whisk into egg ¼ cup kombucha or seltzer with 1 tbsp hot sauce. Set aside.
4. Into a large container, season bread crumb with remaining dried herbs: rosemary, thyme, oregano, herbs de Provence. Add garlic, remaining salt and about 2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper. Into another large, wide, shallow container add about 2 cups of the seasoned breadcrumb.
5. Dust squash slices in flour, follow with dip in egg wash and a dip in breadcrumb. Repeat until all zucchini slices are breaded. If you need to replenish the flour, make sure you season it as you did the first batch. Ditto for egg wash and breadcrumb.
6. Into a large, cast iron or heavy-bottomed pot, add about 2 inches of extra virgin olive oil. I know you’re not “supposed” to fry in olive oil, but I like the flavor. As the oil heats up, cover a sheet pan with paper towels. When oil is well heated, begin frying breaded zucchini pieces in batches until all are crispy and golden. Use a slotted spoon, wire skimmer, or a spider strainer to remove fried squash from oil. Allow to drip over the pot and place on paper towels to drain.
7. Once all the pieces of squash are fried, assemble your parmigiana.
8. Whisk 1 egg, chopped parsley, and freshly cracked pepper into the ricotta and set aside.
9. Preheat oven to 350º.
10. Cover the bottom of a lasagna pan with ½ cup of sauce. Then place a layer of fried squash. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and dollops of the ricotta mixture. Add a layer of squash. Top with tomato sauce and sliced mozzarella. Repeat, alternating layers. The final layer is just mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. This makes enough for 2 trays. Bake at 350º until golden brown and bubbly. You can freeze one tray, unbaked, for later use.

• ½ cup dark maple syrup
• ½ cup dark, aged balsamic vinegar
• ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil plus a dash
• zest of 1 lemon, grated
• juice of 1 lemon
• bowl of lemon water– 4 cups of water with juice of 1 lemon plus spent lemon halves
• zest of 1 lemon, cut into large strips
• 2 heads of farm fresh garlic, peeled, cloves left whole
• 6-8 small eggplant (about 3 pounds) cut into large chunks; once cut place in lemon water to prevent turning brown
• an assortment of banana peppers, cherry peppers, hot and mild chilies (anaheim, poblano, cayenne), about a pound total: deseeded, sliced into large strips
• a few sweet peppers, deseeded cut into strips
• 6 ripe peaches, deseeded and sliced into large chunks
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp herbs de Provence
• 1 cup sushi vinegar
• 1 cup kombucha (optional)
• 3 tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups wheat berries, sorted and rinsed
• 7 cups water (if not using kombucha, 8 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Into a large bowl whisk together spices, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, grated lemon zest, lemon juice. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add veg, garlic, and fruit, toss to combine. Allow to marinade at room temp for about an hour.

3. Then, arrange mixture on sheet pans, pour marinade over the top and bake at 350º for about 40-50 minutes, or until eggplant is tender and slightly caramelized.

4. Meanwhile, into a medium pot, combine kombucha, sushi vinegar, water, 2 tsp salt, large strips of lemon zest, wheat berries, and dash of olive oil. Simmer on medium heat, covered for 25 minutes. Uncover and simmer until berries tender, stirring occasionally. About 40 minutes.

5. Set aside 2-3 cups of the wheat berries for the next recipe. Serve roasted veg over a bed of wheat berries.

• 2-3 cups of cooked wheat berries (cooked with sushi vinegar, see roasted eggplant recipe)
• 4-6 farm-fresh garlic cloves, chopped fine
• 3 links sweet Italian sausage, whole
• 3 links hot Italian sausage, whole
• 2 large carrots, chopped fine
• 1 large sweet onion or red onion, finely minced
• 1 lb baby portobello mushrooms, chopped
• 3-4 large, chilies, deseeded and minced (you can use any variety, I used 2 green cayennes, a poblano, and an ahaheim)
• ½ head of fresh parsley, chopped
• extra virgin olive oil, for sautéing
• 5-6 cups of homemade tomato sauce (recipe below)
• Serve with Parmesan cheese and good, crusty bread
• as many bananna peppers as you want to stuff (for my recipe when I ran out of banana peppers, I stuffed Italian frying peppers, poblanos, and a few hatch style or anaheim chilies– all told I had about a dozen banana peppers, a dozen frying peppers, and half a dozen of the other chilies)
• 2 lasagna pans

1. Into a heavy-bottomed pot, brown the sausage. It doesn’t need to be cooked through, but you want good color on the sausage. Once brown, remove from pot and allow to cool slightly before chopping.
2. Into the same pot add a dash of extra virgin olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic til translucent. Then add the carrot, mushroom, minced chilies, and chopped sausage. Sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Add parsley and wheat berries and turn off the heat. Pop in the fridge to allow to cool while you prep your stuffing peppers.
4. Slice the chili to be stuffed on a bias, lengthwise. (See image). Remove the seeds and keep the top slice as the “lid.”
5. Preheat oven to 350º.
6. Into the bottom of the lasagna pan spread about 1/2-1 cup of tomato sauce. You don’t want more than ½ inch of sauce.
7. Stuff your peppers, being careful not to over stuff so they split. Top with a lid and arrange in pan on top of sauce. Repeat until you have all your chilies stuffed and placed in the pans, top with any remaining stuffing and sauce. Bake at 350º for about 40-60 minutes, or until bubbly and a bit browned. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a slice of crusty bread.

• 1 gram dried cardamom pods
• 3 oz. dried apricots, minced fine
• 2 cups apricot nectar

• zest 2 lemons, minced fine
• 1 lbs very ripe mango: 2-3 mangoes, chopped
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 6 scotch bonnets, deseeded and chopped
• 3 ghost chili, deseeded and chopped
• 6 cups turbinado sugar
• 3 cups white cane sugar
• 2 cups homemade pectin
• juice of 1 lemon

1. Into a large, heavy-bottomed pot, simmer apricots in nectar to rehydrate, with half lemon zest and cardamom. Stir often.
2. After about 20 minutes, add remaining zest, mangoes, cider vinegar, sugar, pectin, and chilies. Be careful NOT to hang your head over the pot as you stir and do NOT cover the pot to build up steam. Simmer until jam passes gel test. (Gel test: place a plate in the freezer prior to cooking jam; when you’re ready to test– after about 15 minutes of simmering the entire batch, place a dollop of jam on the freezer-cold plate. The jam is ready if it gels on contact. If it’s still runny, you may need to add more sugar &/or pectin. My initial recipe called for 1 cup of pectin and 8 cups of sugar; because of the gel test, I readjusted.)
3. Once the jam passes the gel test, remove the cardamom pods and using a stick blender, whazz everything up. For safety, wear goggles and a mask or if you have a face shield. Seriously, you do NOT want flaming hot sugar mixed with bhut joloka (ghost chili) in your eye.
4. Once whazzed, place in sterilized canning jars and follow your yen to can. I used a pressure canner: 10 lbs for 10-15 minutes. You can use a water bath though. I just haven’t mastered water bath canning and keep getting water inside the jars, so I use pressure canning. Keep in mind, as the jam ages, the level of heat increases.

• 2 lbs fresh apricots, pitted
• 3 cups apricot nectar, no sugar added
• 2-3 tablespoons of Kiss the Sun ghost chili jam
  

  That’s me in an apricot tree

• zest of 2 lemons, cut into large strips
• 1 ¾ cup turbinado sugar
• zest of 3 lemons, finely grated
• juice of 3 lemons (1/3 cup of juice total)
• 1 cup moscato
• dash ghost chili or habanero chili powder to taste, optional (do NOT substitute for regular chili powder or cayenne)
• several rectangular cake or lasagna pans
• several quart size freezer containers

1. Place your pans in the freezer. Crank the freezer to the highest setting.
2. Into a heavy-bottomed 6-8 quart pot, combine sugar, nectar, jam, and large strips of zest. Over medium heat, stir until sugar and jam melt. Bring up to a simmer. Add apricots, reduce heat slightly and allow apricots to become tender. About 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, prep lemons, lemon zest, and measure your moscato.
4. Once apricot mixture is ready, remove from heat. Remove large strips of zest. Using a stick blender, whazz up til you’re happy with the consistency. If you want a completely smooth, pulp free sorbet, then pass through a sieve. I like chunky sorbet, so I leave some large bits of apricot.
5. Once the mixture is whazzed, add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and moscato. Using the blender whazz again to combine. Taste. The mixture should be overly sweet but not cloying. The freezer will dull the sweetness a bit. If you’re not happy, adjust. If you want the mixture a bit hotter and chili forward, add some ghost chili or habenero chili powder. Cayenne isn’t as fruity and regular chili powder has garlic, so please don’t add those.
6. Evenly distribute the mixture into your already frozen pans. You can refrigerate the mixture until it gets cold and then pour into pans. I usually skip this step and just extend the freezing time by an hour or two. Then, every 60 minutes, remove the pans from the freezer and whazz up using your stick blender. Once the mixture freezes, store in freezer containers. Makes about 3 quarts.

• stand blender
• stick blender
• 3-4 large lasagna or cake pans (heavy-bottomed)
• measuring cups and spoons
• muslin strainer or fine cheesecloth
• fine mesh sieve
• paring knife
• food thermometer
• large, 8-12 quart heavy-bottomed pot
• mixing bowl
• several quart containers (enough for 4-5 quarts)

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp of moscato (regular or peach)
• 1 cup peach nectar (no sugar added)
• 1 ½ cup turbinado sugar
• 8 egg yolks (save the whites for the cakey tart recipe)
• 1 cup (by volume) fresh ginger root, chopped
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 lb apricots, pitted and sliced
• 2 lbs peaches, pitted and sliced
• 1 cup water
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
• pinch of salt

1. Place your cake pans in the freezer. Crank your freezer to the highest setting.
2. Into your heavy-bottomed pot, combine peaches, apricots, water, and half your grated ginger. Put on medium heat and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally until the fruit is soft. Remove from heat and place mixture in a container, cover and pop in the fridge to cool.
3. Into the same heavy-bottomed pot– don’t bother rinsing– add the chopped ginger, salt, sugar, milk, and cream. Place on medium heat, stirring to melt the sugar. Do NOT boil. You’re scalding the milk and bringing it up to 170º. Once it does, turn off the heat, cover, and allow it to steep for anywhere between 30-60 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, prep your egg yolks and be sure to set the whites aside for the final recipe.
5. After the fruit mixture becomes cool enough to handle, whazz it up in the stand blender with 2 tsp of your moscato and the remaining grated ginger. Whazz until smooth. If you want a perfectly smooth gelato, pass through a sieve. I like a little body, so I don’t mind some pulp. Place mix back into the container and back in the fridge. No need to rinse the blender; you’ll be using it again in a moment.
6. Once the milk mixture has steeped, using a fine sieve, strain out all the ginger pieces. Place those into the blender and put the milk mixture back into the pot and set aside.
7. Into the blender, place the peach nectar and half the moscato. Whazz up for several minutes and then strain using the muslin strainer or fine cheesecloth. Squeeze as much liquid from the pulp and add that to the pot with milk mixture. Do NOT place on the stove, not yet.
8. Taste the mixture. It should be overly sweet but not cloying.
9. In your mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks for several minutes, until completely broken up and slightly frothy. Add a touch of the milk mixture to temper the eggs, whisk continually to make sure the eggs don’t scramble. Once the eggs are brought up to temperature, add those to the pot with the milk mixture. Remember to keep whisking to make sure the eggs don’t cook. Place the pot back on the stove, on medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. About 10 minutes. You don’t want to over heat or the cream will

   break.

10. Once the mixture comes up to temperature, immediately remove from heat and using the fine mesh sieve, strain carefully to remove any curdled bits of egg.
11. Using the stick blender, combine the peach puree, the remaining moscato, and the milk mixture. Evenly distribute amongst the frozen pans and pop into the freezer. Check every 60 minutes and whazz with the stick blender until frozen. Makes about 6 quarts.

• 2 cups whole, raw almonds
• 1 cup whole, raw apricot kernels
• 6 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup turbinado sugar + 1 tbsp
• 2 pinches of salt
• ½ cup half and half
• 2 whole eggs
• 8 egg white
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 10-14 fresh apricots, pitted
• buttered tart pan
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• pinch of cinnamon
• heavy pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Into a dry blender, grind the almonds and apricot kernels.
3. Add to a mixing bowl. Combine with 1 pinch of salt and other dry ingredients (but not the sugar.
4. Into a separate bowl, combine the eggs, egg whites, 1 cup of sugar, and half and half. Whisk until the mixture becomes frothy. Add the butter and whisk again. Don’t worry about the clumps of butter, what coagulates from the cold. That will melt in the oven.
5. Pout wet into dry and whisk to combine until the mixture becomes airy. About 5 minutes. Set aside while you butter your tart pan and place the pan on a sheet pan.
6. Pour batter evenly into pan. Arrange apricots, cut side up, in a circular pattern. Sprinkle remaining sugar on each apricot. Bake at 350º for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Serve with freshly whipped cream, whipped with pinch of salt, pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, and 2 tsp of sugar.