Whiteley Creek Homestead

jerusalem artichoke

Are you longing for the juicy fruits of summer... watermelon, peaches, and pick-your-own berry patches? Are you dreaming of plucking sugar snap peas and string beans from your garden plot? Me, too. But, every season holds what our bodies need at the perfect time. During the summer months, in-season fruits have an abundance of water to hydrate and cool us in the heat. In the winter, in-season produce is heavier... denser to warm us. A winter's diet certainly doesn't need to be boring.

These Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple, or topinambour)... I have been crunching them raw like an apple. Unpeeled so as not to miss any of the nutrients that the skin holds. A crisp sweet treat that is a species of sunflower. Above the ground, a tall plant with a small sunflower blossom. Underneath the soil grows clusters of knobby tubers that become sweeter after a frost.

celeriac lentil gratin

Celeriac. Celery root. Turnip-rooted celery. Knob celery. All names for the gnarly rooted winter vegetable that is a member of the same family as parsnips, carrots, chervil, parsley, and fennel. As roots reach deeper into the earth and celery-like stalks unfurl to provide beauty in the garden, a massive edible bulb grows under the soil. Like parsnips, harvesting celeriac after a frost enhances its flavor. Photos from my kitchen: (L) Bright green leaves sprouting from the celeriac's crown indicate that it is still very much alive. (R) The roots have been trimmed from the underside. Their diameter shows its strong root system. The following video http://youtu.be/-a4sIVAzhto demonstrates how to prep celeriac for a variety of uses like... 

Celeriac Lentil Gratin. I've returned to the casserole dish this evening for more helpings than any adult, who normally makes rational decisions, should. It's that good. Really. The recipe comes from the website of Crumbs Magazine, which is a UK publication, via a submission by Jenny Chandler. The quantities are in grams and milliliters, so I leaned on metric-conversions.org and a kitchen scale that measures in both grams and ounces.

The recipe called for Castelluccio lentils, which is a brown variety. I had none. But, I did have Shiloh Farms Black Beluga Lentils. After weighing 300 grams, I transferred the lentils into measuring cups and determined it was equivalent to approximately 1 1/2 cups. Instead of two 400-gram cans of chopped tomatoes, I subbed a 23.5 ounce jar of Newman's Own Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce. A perfect swap out in this hearty winter root vegetable casserole. Pair it with a side salad of baby lettuces -romaine, arugula, mizuna, tatsoi, chard, mustard, frisee, radicchio, spinach, mache, beet tops, and kale. A hunk of crusty bread. Some fresh fruit.

Celeriac and Lentil Gratin

Serves 4-6. (With salad and a hunk of rustic bread, it will serve 6 nicely.)

2 tbsp olive oil (I used a generous tbsp butter.)

1 onion, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, crushed (I minced finely.)

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes (I subbed 1-23.5 oz jar Newman’s Own Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce.)

300g Castelluccio (brown) lentils, rinsed (I subbed 1 ½ cups Shiloh Farms Black Beluga Lentils.)

salt and pepper, to taste (I used 1 ½ tsp salt, divided and ½ tsp pepper, divided.)

large handful parsley, roughly chopped (I had neither fresh nor dried, so I omitted.)

225 ml double (heavy) cream, divided (This is approximately 1 cup. I subbed half & half by skimming 1/2 cup cream off the top of my nonhomogenzied whole milk then filling the remainder of the measuring cup with milk.)

1 celeriac, about 1kg, peeled, quartered, and finely diced (1 kg=2 lbs 3.2740 oz. I used 2 celeriac which weighed 2 lbs 2 3/8 oz. After peeling, I sliced them into fried potato size slices.)

zest and juice of ½ lemon (I omitted.)

100g Parmesan cheese, grated (This amounts to 1 ½ cups grated cheese.)

1)Preheat oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. (What is a “gas mark?”) Heat oil (or butter) in a large saucepan and saute the onion gently until soft and beginning to turn golden. Add garlic and stir until its wonderful smell wafts up from the pan. “Tip in” the tomatoes (or pasta sauce) and simmer for about 10 minutes. 2)Meanwhile, put the lentils in a pan, cover with about 5 cm/2 in of water and simmer for about 20 minutes until soft and creamy rather than al dente. Drain if necessary and then season well with salt and pepper. (I followed the cooking instructions on the lentils package. For 1 ½ cups lentils, add 4 ½ cups water. I simmered a little longer than 20 minutes until the water was absorbed, so there was no water to drain. I seasoned the cooked lentils with ½ tsp salt + ¼ tsp pepper.) Stir in the parsley, if using, and 3 tbsp of the cream. 3)Add the celeriac to the pan of tomato sauce, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes or until tender. (Depending upon the size of the celeriac slices, it may take a little longer. ) At first, there will not appear to be enough tomato sauce, but the celeriac will release plenty of moisture as it cooks. When the celeriac is tender (fork easily pierces it but not mushy-somewhat firm), add the remaining cream, the lemon zest and juice (if using) and season with salt and pepper. (I used ½ tsp salt + ¼ tsp pepper.) 4)Layer the celeriac and tomato mixture alternately with the lentils in a large, shallow ovenproof dish (like a glass 9X13 baking dish), finishing with a layer of celeriac. (I used approx 2 cups celeriac/tomato mixture on each of the 3 layers sprinkling ¼ tsp salt on each of the first two layers. I divided the lentils equally between 2 layers. Sprinkle the top with the grated Parmesan cheese and bake for about 30 minutes until nicely browned on top. (I removed it just as the cheese was barely beginning to turn golden.) Notes: This can be prepared ahead and even frozen. Thaw before baking for an extra 10-15 minutes, covering with foil if the top begins to get too dark. (I haven’t tried freezing it.) Try using any whole brown or green lentil for the dish. Not red lentils, though, as they will collapse into a mush.

parsnip carrot cookies

It belongs to the umbelliferae family as do carrots, chervil, parsley, fennel, and celeriac. A hard frost develops its sweetness, so it is well suited for planting in Minnesota's climate. It provides vitamin C, fiber, folate, and potassium. It makes a tasty cookie. It's a parsnip.

To prep the parsnips, remove the peel. (A young parsnip's tender peel can be left intact.) Roughly chop into chunks... enough to make 1 cup cooked, pureéd parsnips. "How many chunks is that?" I queried. I guessed, weighed, cooked, pureéd. Perfect. 11 ounces raw parsnips = 1 cup cooked, pureéd parsnips.     

Pureéd carrots and parsnips are added to the liquid ingredients then combined with the dry. Raisins provide sweetness while raw sunnies and hazelnuts add crunch. Finely chopped Brazil nuts sprinkled atop each cookie looks like a dusting of freshly fallen snow.

Parsnip Carrot Cookies

Source:  The Antioxidant Save-Your-Life Cookbook, Jane and Daniel Kinderlehrer p. 164 “Brazil Nut Cookies”

Yield: 3 doz using level tbsp (or 2 doz using heaping tbsp)

1 egg

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp olive oil (I used coconut oil.)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup cooked parsnips*, put thru a sieve (I pureéd using a food processor.)

1 cooked carrot, put thru sieve (I pureéd using a food processor.)

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, less 3 tbsp

3 tbsp soy flour

½ cup wheat germ (I subbed ¼ cup oat bran + ¼ cup ground flaxseed.)

2 1 tsp baking powder

½ cup raisins

¼ cup raw sunflower seeds (my addition)

¼ cup chopped hazelnuts (my addition)

4 Brazil nuts, grated (I chopped very finely instead.)

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine egg, honey, oil, vanilla, and pureéd parsnips and carrot. In another bowl, whisk flour, wheat germ (or oat bran and flaxseed), and baking powder. Add to parsnip-carrot mixture and blend. Stir in raisins, sunnies, and hazelnuts. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle Brazil nuts on top of each cookie. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly brown. (Don’t underbake or centers won’t be cooked through. May require add’l time.) *11 ounces raw parsnips = 1 cup cooked, pureéd parsnips

porch banquet

In the morning, I rearranged my twig furniture to create a banquet table.

Dick carved a jack-o-lantern after selecting a face from a printout that our granddaughter had sent us...

and cut slabs from the trunk of a fallen tree to use for plate/bowl chargers.

In the cool evening, we gathered. Warmed by a wood fire on the backporch, we ate bowls of soup and chunks of rustic bread. Game night with my siblings. At our home. Our bed and breakfast.

potato cabbage soup

My garden blessed me with abundance. Heirloom potatoes that included white, red skin/red flesh, and purple skin/purple flesh varieties...

and perfectly formed heads of cabbage.

To make soup. A simple Potato Cabbage Soup. To sip and savour the abundance with thankfulness.

Potato Cabbage Soup

1 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

32 oz chicken broth (or 4 c. water + 1 ½ tbsp Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base)

1 lb potatoes, chopped into chunks

¼ head cabbage, chopped into chunks

diced nitrite-free fully cooked ham, optional

2 c. half and half

1 1/2 tsp Johnny's Seasoning Salt without MSG (or to taste) 

1/2 tsp pepper

Optional toppings: chopped crispy bacon, grated cheese, sliced green onions

In soup pot, saute onion and celery in butter. Add broth, potatoes, cabbage, and ham (optional). Simmer for 20 minutes until potatoes and cabbage are tender but still firm. Add half and half. Heat to warm. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls. If desired, garnish with sliced green onions, chopped crispy bacon, and/or shredded cheese.  

 

 

tire tread patterns

Zigzag. Rick rack. Chevron. Whatever name you choose to call it. There it was on my driveway after a rain shower had softened the dirt sufficiently to allow an imprint from tires to remain. Alongside... another pretty pattern. Rows of Indian teepees. A bonus.

molasses hermits

Upon returning from our 3-day hiking, biking, and camping adventure in northern Minnesota's Chippewa National Forest, a package awaited in my mailbox. Inside was a special birthday gift from my granddaughter. She had selected a recipe from a notebook I had given her... the pages filled with recipes handwritten by my mother years ago when I was a child. (She passed away in April 2011 at age 93.) Tucked into the box, alongside the cookies, was a copy of the Molasses Hermits recipe from the notebook... in my mother's old-fashioned style cursive writing. Take note of the uppercase S and lowercase t in the word "sift."

Raisins, molasses, a handwritten recipe passed down through generations, and a granddaughter's thoughtfulness provide perfect sweetness. There are no other sweeteners needed.

Molasses Hermits

Cream ¼ cup shortening (or butter), 1 egg beaten, and ½ cup light molasses. Sift 1 ½ cups flour, ¼ tsp soda, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp cloves, and ¼ tsp salt. Add alternately with ¼ cup sour milk. Stir in ½ cup raisins, chopped (or not). Drop by rounded tsp (or tbsp) on greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 10 min.

 

joyce estate

The morning began at a farmers' market in Grand Rapids where I paused to admire a vendor's lovely veggie scape that she had created to display her autumn garden's harvest. I purchased a locally-raised, pastured chicken to roast. Then, we packed sandwiches, purple carrots, honey crisp apples and water. And we were off...

To hike down a three mile trail through dense woods to the Joyce Estate.

David Joyce, who was an heir to his family's lumber industry fortune, built the isolated Joyce Estate or "Nopeming" (place of rest in Ojibwe) from 1917-1935 on a peninsula extending into Trout Lake north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The resort encompassed 4,500 acres with forty buildings including a golf course, telephone line, and airplane hangar.

(Photo source: Joyce Estate self-guided trail marker) The property was used by the Joyce Family until 1972 and a caretaker lived on site year round until 1986. The USDA Forest Service presently manages the site which is eligible to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many buildings have deteriorated, or are nonexistent, but their locations are identified with markers. The main lodge and root cellar, pictured below, are a stoic reminder of an era that encompassed the roaring twenties, prohibition, and women's suffrage... and memories that span several generations of families.  

Pop into the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce to pick up a brochure. It'll provide directions to a parking area where you can access the hiking trail to the Joyce Estate and a map of the grounds to aid navigation and landmark identification.

 

 

lost forty

My brother, Cliff, gave us the idea. He had heard tell of it from someone but had not ventured there. We set out to find it. The Lost Forty. It began with a mistake. In 1882. During the height of Minnesota's logging days, a survey crew mistakenly plotted a lake 1/2 mile further northwest than it actually lies. Thinking that the area was underwater, loggers left 144 acres of trees untouched.

A one-mile trail now winds through stands of 300-400 year old towering white and red pines with massive girth that originate from when the Pilgrims came to America. Markers along the self-guided trail provide historical information as well as draw attention to such things as the characteristic bark that differentiates white and red pine trees.

Located in the Chippewa National Forest, the Lost Forty is a challenge to locate if you set out thinking signs will direct you... or a GPS... or you will just stumble upon it. No. Follow these directions. Easy peasy. From the town of Blackduck (Minnesota), take County Road 30/13 to Alvwood, travel north on State Highway 46 for 1/2 mile to County Road 29. Follow 29 east for about 11 miles to Dora Lake and County Road 26. Travel 2 miles north on 26 to Forest Road 2240. About 1 1/2 miles west of this intersection you will find a sign for the Lost Forty. (Source: USDA Forest Service)